A Different Start
by Jarvisan
Summary: The victims, I mean contestants, have now been decided. Hosted by Chris McLean, welcome to first ever season of TV's hottest new reality show Total Drama. At Camp Wawanakwa, 22 teens will compete for the grand prize of 100,000. Who will be booted out first? Who will win the money? What juicy drama can we get from theses teens. Find out right here on Total! Drama! Island![Cancelled]
1. Not-so Happy Campers Part 1

**A/N: Don't expect too many of these. Unless it's something important I need to tell you all of, it will just be story from here on out. This ones here to just get stuff out the way and reiterate some points from my application posts.**

 **1\. I don't own Total Drama or any of the canon characters mentioned in this story. Those belong to their Production Company Fresh TV. Blah blah, other possibly mandatory copyright bollocks.**

 **2\. Thank you again to everyone applied initially as well as to everyone who leaves a review as well. Your input and support is always meaningful to me.  
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 **3\. Criticism and suggestions are always welcome, whether related to this story's direction or just general things like grammar. If you want to take a personal shot at me, go for it. However, I choose whether to acknowledge it though and chances are I won't care.**

 **4\. There is no upload schedule for this. Things will be uploaded when they're done to my satisfaction. Quality comes first and I stand by that so please be patient.**

 **5\. I'm always available via PM if you need to talk. Just bare in mind I run on GMT here in England, so please make sure you aren't messaging me at 4am by accident.**

 **6\. Points are awarded for getting references. They have no value, won't get you anything and are, in essence, completely irrelevant but it's still cool if you notice them.**

 **With all that out of the way, let the story commence.**

* * *

The show begins to an empty wooden dock on a mountainous island with many trees taking habitat on it. The sky is sunny and clear and the sea is a nice clean blue. A man dressed in a blue shirt with white sleeves takes the middle of the frame.

"Yo, we're coming at you live from Camp Wawanakwa, somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario. I'm your host, Chris McLean, dropping season 1 of the hottest new reality show on television, right now!" He proudly said, especially emphasising his name.

The camera zooms out to show him walking along the wooden dock with small waves crashing against the wood. "Here's the deal, 22 campers have signed up to spend 8 weeks right here at this crummy old summer camp." He stops at the right end of the dock. "They'll compete in challenges against each other, then have to face the judgement of their fellow campers." Chris explained. He raises right hand. "Every 3 days, one team will either win a reward or watch one of their team members walk down the Dock of Shame," Chris points to a picture of a boat that's been dropped into the frame. "take a ride on the Loser-Boat," he chuckles to himself "and leave Total Drama Island for good." He swings his arms like a golf club.

We see a fire pit with logs inside and 11 stumps placed around it. There is also a grey barrel drum being used as a podium beneath a blank wooden signpost. Chris walks up to the podium. "Their fate will be decided here, at the dramatic Campfire Ceremonies," Chris gives jazz hands at the ceremonies mention. "where each week, all but one camper will receive a marshmallow." Chris grabs a marshmallow on a stick and eats it, throwing away the stick. "In the end, only one will be standing, be rewarded with cheesy tabloid fame," this is inflated by Chris holding up gossip magazines. He then holds up a treasure chest with sparkling fake gold. "and a small fortune, which let's face it, they'll probably blow in a week." Chris flashes a sly smirk.

Chris voice can be heard over the following transitional footage. "To survive, they'll have to battle, black flies, grizzly bears, disgusting camp food, and each other." All the stated things, save the latter are shown on screen. "Every moment will on one of the hundreds of cameras situated all over the camp." Said cameras are shown in the forest and at the campsite.

We're back at the dock for Chris' outro. He flexes his arms. "Who will crumble under the pressure? Find out here, right now on Total! Drama! Island!" Chris' voice rises in volume with his arms after each pause.

* * *

The opening theme song starts playing. Lights, cameras and a clapper appear amongst the woodlands, disturbing any animals nearby.

 _Dear Mom and Dad I'm doing fine, you guys are on my mind._

A wide shot of island quickly moves past Chris on a director's chair in front of the cabins and then jibs up the mountain and dives into the water.

 _You asked me what I wanted to be and I think the answer is plain to see,_

Farah is underwater pulling faces at a chasing shark and she smiles as it follows her. The camera pans up to Edward high-fiving the camera and then adjusts it to a board game with Yamazaki. She rolls a dice which is then stolen by an eagle. Both look slightly ruffled after with a feather caught in Edwards hair.

 _I WANNA BE FAMOUS!_

Conor is sat with crossed legs in a breathing exercise with his eyes closed. Velma closes in with a magnifying glass looking at an insect crawling on his gi. The dice the eagle stole drop on his head, causing him to unintentionally hit the magnifying glass into Velma's face. Ria runs in to check Conor's head with Velma in turn accidentally striking her head with the magnifying glass while she's flailing about in pain.

 _I wanna live close to the sun, well pack your bags cause I've already won._

Jela and Jeffrey are on a boat sailing down the river. Jela snuggles up to Jeffrey and seductively rubs his chest. He looks onward unfazed. They both fall down a waterfall where Kali is practicing her monologuing, with script in hand, to Griff who rubs his temples in frustration. The splash from Jela and Jeffrey ruin Kali's script causing Griff to breath a sigh of relief.

 _Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day._

A bear growls at Griff and Kali who run away in fear past the outhouse. Mayra is on top of the outhouse swinging a lasso watching it unfold and tosses it at the bear, stopping it in its pursuit. We move to inside the kitchen where Chef is prepping food. Zveif can be seen reaching for sugar but Chef swats his grabby mitts with a spatula.

 _CAUSE I WANNA BE FAMOUS!_

Dianne is at a table, looking at Chef's food in horror and performs a holy cross symbol with her fingers. It then proceeds to jump at her face. Kevin is at another table reading a book labelled 'World Most Deadly Diseases' before Gabriel slips a campaign poster in front of his face. Kevin looks up to see Gabriel preparing to read a speech before Dianne's food latches on to his face.

 _NA, NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA NA._

At the beach, Tristan and Rose are both on motorcycles revving and then jetting off along the beach. They race past Deon who is oiling himself up in a Speedo swimsuit, posing for the camera before all the dust from the motorcycles flies in his face causing him to choke. In the water, we see Joey dive from a buoy. Once in the water, she points to a flag can be seen saying 'Equal rights for all genders' before an octopus tentacle rips it and drags her down along with it.

 _I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous._

Nick is on the dock pulling out his well-polished trophies from his suitcase. He then pulls out a gold medal and twirls it on his index finger before it flies up towards the sun.

 _I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous. *Whistles*_

Claire lights a fire-cracker on the podium. She chuckles until Anton glares at her. She then throws it in the fire. She feigns ignorance with Anton's glare getting stronger as Claire whistles with everyone else around the fire joining with the firecracker going off in it. The camera pulls out to reveal a giant sign that reads Total Drama Island.

* * *

Back at the dock, Chris stands ready to begins the show. "Welcome back to Total Drama Island. Alright, it's time to meet our first set of campers. We told some of them they'd be staying at a 5-star resort, so if some of them seem a little TO'd, that's probably why." Chris chuckles at that possibility. "Here comes our first camper now."

A boat pulls up and a lanky guy wearing a black shirt with blue jeans and a silver locket around his neck steps off the boat with his bags. He has light skin and a brown low fade haircut. "Griff, what's up?"

"Thanks for having me man. Like the new look. Those suit you way better than the tennis shorts from that Bad-minton movie." Griff chuckles at his pun while Chris looks annoyed.

"Yeah, thanks." Chris says dripping with sarcasm. The next boat arrives. A girl with an athletic body sporting a lavender top and black yoga pants steps off with her suitcases. Her short, cyan coloured hair stands out. She looks around slightly confused. "Joey, welcome"

"Thank you. So, when do we go to the resort." She asks in a chipper tone.

"This is the resort. Camp Wawanakwa."

"Huh, hope they still have that spa in the brochure." She said to herself, dragging her suitcase along the dock.

"Hey Deon." A buff, well-groomed man with smooth caramel skin comes off carrying his suitcases. He rocks his faded jeans showing both of his knees as well as a plain white shirt with BOSS printed in capitalised black letters. His glossy lips and diamond earrings glisten under the sunlight.

"Uh uh, this is where we're staying?" He says with an upset yet campy demeanour.

"It's not where I'm staying. I've got my own trailer with AC that-a-way. I'm sure you'll still enjoy the camp cabins though." He says slightly condescendingly.

"There is no wa-hey that I'm staying on this dingy old island. I'm outta here." Deon begins to walk off back towards his boat. It drives off without him. "Hey, get back here!" he yells angrily.

"I'm sure you're aware of these from your time modelling, but this is a contract. Our lawyers have made sure you can't get out until the shows over. Sorry." He jokingly uttered. Deon walks to the other 2 contestants grumbling under his breath.

The next boat pulls up with a young intern carrying lots of bags to the dock. A curvy, chocolate-skinned woman steps off behind. She's sporting a red crop top and black skinny jeans leaving little to the imagination. "Just place them over by the dock, please sweetie." She sweetly commands to an intern. Said intern slowly does so before collapsing under the weight of the luggage. "Thank you baby." She proceeds to patronisingly rub his chin but he stills loves it.

"Um Jela. Those interns are to do my bidding, not yours." Chris stated in annoyance pointing at the crush soul.

"Aw but he was just being a gentleman. He said a fine lady like myself shouldn't be forced to carry such heavy stuff by herself. Isn't that right?" Every guy rolls their eyes as the intern proceeds to give a thumbs-up, probably due to his lungs being crushed by her stuff. He gets out just in time as the next contestant arrives.

"Here's our next contestant Yamazaki…" Chris trails off as a petite Asian girl wearing a black cape and various fantasy based merchandise steps off. She's also wearing a side purse shaped like an arrow quiver. "Err… wow" Chris says quietly to camera. Yamazaki reaches into her purse and pulls out two 20-sided die. She rolls them landing on 7 and 13.

"How are you this fine day, Master McLean?" She enquires with a faux posh English accent.

"I'm fine. Could you go join the rest of the guys over there?" Chris said clearly weirded out.

She complies walking to the other arrivals. "Ah, my fellow companions of adventure. Allow me to prepare us for competition." She rolls her dice landing on 5 and 8. "Excellent, a +5 strength boost. You could especially use that." She innocently points at an offended Griff.

"Hey!" Griff said in an amazing comeback.

An afro-haired guy came next scowling at the other contestants who looked befuddled as to why. Chris got the same treatment but he knowingly smiled. The guy with the ripped designer shirt, black joggers and gold medal around his neck stormed up to Chris. He infuriatingly questioned "McLean, why am I not the first arrival to your competition?"

"Nick, buddy. Seems like the boat driver was a bit later than the others. Nothing to do with me." Chris kept the cheeky grin throughout the explanation.

Nick turned to the exiting boat and shouted "Imbecile." Before joining the rest of the arrivals. He knocked Joey's suitcase close to the water.

She retaliated "Hey, be more careful next time. You could have ruined my stuff."

Nick scoffed "If your current look is anything to go by, it clearly wouldn't have been much of an improvement on your current inferior state."

Joey's rage was starting to boil. "Inferior! Listen here, you st-" Her tirade was interrupted by a loud scream on the next boat.

"Kyah" A toned man clad in a gi with a white tank top underneath was performing a martial arts exercise. He stepped off with a drinks bottle and made his way to Chris.

"Conor, dude. Welcome to the island."

Conor humbly bowed towards Chris. "It's an honour to participate in this event, McLean-sensei." Chris egotistically smirked at the honorific he received.

The next boat arrived with a ramp on its bow. Revving could be heard and a chick with a ponytail and black leather jacket sped off the ramp. She landed on the dock with a quick drift towards Chris who recoiled at nearly being hit. Chris glared at her "Who said you bring a motorcycle here, Rose?"

"Well, I wasn't going to leave it at home. Can't let my baby get stolen." She cockily replied.

"Oh, then I guess you don't mind if we take it off you then for the remainder of the competition." Chris returned.

"Over my dead body." Rose blocked it off. Chris snapped his fingers as interns forced her away from it. The bike was removed from the docks and Rose joined the others frustrated and resigned to her bikes fate, for now.

The next boat arrived carrying another small girl. This one however was wearing a black-sleeveless hoodie with camo shorts and white knee-high socks. She stepped daintily off and took a breath before making her way to everyone. "Hello Ria. Welcome to the show."

"Uh, thank you." She quickly looked everyone over before taking he place behind the larger members of the cast.

"Not gonna lie. A little anti-climactic after everything else." Chris remarked to the camera. He turned back towards the water then let out a totally manly yelp in surprise. A frail boy holding up his own camera on a stick. He was in brown shorts with a black shirt with a video game controller on it.

"Say hi for all my wonderful subscribers Chris." The boy was smiling wide to the camera lens. Chris stole the camera away from him.

"None of your own footage, Edward." He said frustrated. "All footage not aired on the show is for our DVD releases only."

"Oh, come on. No one will be watching this show on DVD anyway. This stuff always ends up online, what's the harm?" Edward pleaded.

"The harm will be a copyright lawsuit against your channel dude. No getting this back until the shows over." Chris informed. He pointed to the others who a sighing Edward joined. He perked up upon seeing Conor.

"Dude has anyone told you you look like Ryu?" Edward eagerly stated. Conor just stared at him confused bringing Edward back down to sighing town.

The next boat arrived with a small, tan-coloured girl of seemingly Middle-Eastern origin. She's dressed in a white blouse, with a grey pinstripe vest and a red bandana tied around her neck. Her black skinny jeans matched her colour scheme. "Kali. How's it going?" Chris asked.

"Fine, thank you for asking." She politely responded with an unexpected soft Bostonian accent. "It's very nice to meet the rest of you as well." She joined the rest of the cast.

"Huh, didn't see that coming?" remarked Chris. The next boat was incoming but stopped midway to the docks. Chris yelled over to the stalled boat. "Hey, why'd you stop?" He carried on for a good minute. The boat however soon moored after causing Chris yelling to subside. A young man sporting an eyepatch soon came out shocking everyone except Chris.

Clad in his now oil-stained overalls the guy stepped out to the dock.

"Sorry for the hold up. Had to fix the engine for my driver. That moron couldn't tell the difference between a spark plug and a piston." He joked. Rose was the only one who giggled, causing Tristan's bad mood to be lessened that someone actually got his joke.

"At least you've finally made it Tristan. Go join the rest over there." He made his way to Rose and they both smirked at each other.

Next came a thin boy munching on a lollipop as he came off the boat. He was dressed in a tie-dye shirt and sweatpants. "Hey Zveif. Welcome to Camp Wawanakwa." Zveif nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thanks for having me." He began walking over and about to unwrap another lollipop, when he tripped and dropped it. The candy landed near Jela who picked it up.

"Strawberry, my favourite. You don't mind if have this do you? I loooove strawberry." Jela asked charming the boy who was struggling to get his words out. "Aw, thank you honey. You're sweet." Jela began eating the confectionery rather sensually, catching some peoples' attentions. Zveif beamed at the compliment and got back to his feet. He pulled out a chocolate bar from one of his bags and chomped on that instead.

Next came a girl with a grey bustier top and a pink skirt. She's strumming a guitar and humming melodically as she steps off the boat. She then straps the instrument around her back. "Sorry, didn't expect to get here so soon."

"It's OK Dianne. Reminds me of me." Chris said polishing his ego.

"So, is this going to be like some kind of band camp or something?" She giggled.

"Family show Dianne. Band camps are for later timeslots." Chris said winking to the camera. Dianne laughed and joined the others.

Chris was soon caught in a lasso and dragged towards the next boat. "What the heck?" he exclaimed. Soon he was hogtied by a toned blond girl. She is wearing a red and black plaid shirt and short cut jeans. She then puts her black leather boots on Chris.

"Well, 14 seconds. 2 shy of ma record. Ya shouldn't have bin such a feisty varmint their little fella." She then released his bindings and a bemused Chris stared a hole through her.

"What's the big idea tying me up like an animal Mayra?" Chris demanded.

"Sorry partner. Just wanted to make an entrance. Hope ya understand." Mayra apologised.

"Fine, whatever," he gestured for Mayra to get away from him. "Geez, I hope this insanity ends soon." The next boat arrives with another thin boy who awkwardly stared at everyone through his glasses as he stepped off. He retreated slightly into his dark-striped hoodie. "Kevin, what's up man?"

Kevin looked hesitant. "Erm, do mean that literally or in the slang sense? Because either it's clouds and the sky. If you mean the other, I'm honestly kind of nervous."

"Right. I forgot about your condition. Lawyers told me to be kinder to the mentally-challenged. Don't want any angry emails." Chris put a hand on the boys shoulder. "Well Kevin, just try your best. I'm sure you'll be great slugger." Chris laid the fake enthusiasm on thick and then pushed him uncaringly towards the rest.

The next boat came in with a tan-coloured girl in tow on a wakeboard. For some reason, she chose to wear a leather vest, camo shorts and hiking boots for her water-sports entrance. As soon as the boat came to a stop, she jumped on the dock and skidded on the dock into everyone's luggage. After grabbing her hat and being helped up by Dianne she said with a Pakistani accent "Thank you. What a freaking rush man!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Farah!" Chris announced. Farah raised her arms in victory earning a few quick claps. As the clapping died down another tall guy stepped onto the dock. Clad in a casual, striped Henley shirt and grey pants, the guy adjusted his glasses to take in his surroundings. "And now we have Jeff."

"I prefer to go by either Jeffrey or Professor Mortimer. Prof if you insist on nicknames." The young man spoke with an authoritative tone. Chris looked unmoved.

"Good to know." Chris flashed his best 'I don't care' smile. Jeffrey grimaced and joined the others looking them over as he did.

"S-so, are you really a Professor?" Kevin quietly asked him cautiously.

Jeffrey eyed the smaller boy clearly noticing his anxiety. "Not in the legal sense, but I might as well be after everything I've studied." He grinned at Kevin who in turn gave him a look of admiration.

Next, a small but bulky guy came off the boat. With his baby blue cardigan, baseball cap and grey khakis. He spread his arms open and strongly inhaled through his nose. "Ah, freedom." He proceeded to brush his hand through his short blond hair under his cap and make his way to Chris.

"How's it feel to be back on the outside world Anton?" Chris enquired.

"It feels incredible Chris." He beamed and inhaled the fresh air again.

"Good to hear. Stick to the terms of your parole and there'll be plenty more of it for you." A few contestants shared some worried glances between them at the word parole.

"Don't be alarmed. I've served my time and I'm looking to give back to society." Anton reassured everyone. Suddenly, a loud laugh was heard behind him. A girl in a black leather, sleeveless jacket, tank top and faded jeans was hanging from the boat railing. She had spray-painted the devil horns hand sign on her boat. She then climbed back on the boat before exiting it.

"So, what do you think of my handiwork?" the girl asked.

"Very nice Claire." Chris praised satisfying Claire before her mood was dragged down by Anton.

"Don't praise her, that's an act of vandalism." Anton intervened.

"Pfft. Don't be such a prude. Like you haven't done anything bad before." Claire said unaware of Anton uncomfortably rubbing his neck before both went to join the cast.

The next boat arrived with banners draped on the sides with the next contestants face on it. He was a dapper young man with a blue shirt and black silk jacket with gold cuff links. His black pants and shined shoes portrayed a sense of importance. As he stepped off he pulled out a megaphone. "Attention, fellow competitors. I am pleased to join you all here at this island today. If you ever wish to elect some to represent yourself, I will do so with your best interests in mind. I, Gabriel Peterson, am the man to progress you further in competition and in your life endeavours."

"Do you have any interest in preservation?" A voice came from the last boat to arrive. It came from a very-nerdy looking individual. She had freckles and an orange sweater vest covering her white shirt. Along with a crew-cut and jeans she walked curiously towards Gabriel.

"Of course. The environment is essential part of life that must be treated with respect, just like all humans."

"Does that include smaller creatures like the Antophila species of the Apoidea classification?" Velma interrogated.

Gabriel replied in confusion. "Why, er, of course. They're a priority." She nodded in appreciation and Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief, getting away with his bluff.

"And with Velma giving Gabriel his science lesson, all we need now is a group photo for the promos. Everyone on the end of the dock." Everyone complied and walked to the other side and posed ready. Chris jumped on the bow of the last boat with camera in hand. "OK, 1, 2, 3…" A click was heard but faces dropped as Chris informed them "Oops, forgot the lens cap."

"Get on with it." Nick shouted still posing.

"OK, hold that pose. 1, 2… No wait," faces dropped again. "Cards full."

"Get on with it." Claire shouted.

"Yeah, get on with it." Tristan added.

"Hang on, 1, 2, 3…" Beeping was heard from the camera distracting him. "Oh, batteries low." Chris smirked.

"GET ON WITH IT!" Everyone yelled this time.

"Got it. Everybody say Wawanakwa." They did as told and Chris snapped the photo. Thankfully he got it before the worn dock collapsed under the contestants' weight and they joined the fishes in the water. "Alright everyone, dry off and meet at the campfire pit in 10."

Chris was dropped off at shore as Jeffrey remarked, while holding on to a floating plank, "I hate him already." to which many nodded in agreement.

* * *

Everyone was dry at the Campfire area. All the contestants, whether sitting on tree stumps or standing, had their focus on Chris who began addressing them. "This is Camp Wawanakwa, your home for the next 8 weeks. The campers sitting around you will be your cabinmates, your competition and maybe even your friends, ya dig." Some smiled at this or looked disinterested at those prospects. Kevin smiled up at Gabriel who looked away, making Kevin downtrodden. "The camper who manages to stay on Total Drama Island the longest, without getting voted off, will win $100,000."

"Excuse me, what will the sleeping arrangements be, because I know some sexy guys here who I wouldn't mind sharing a room with." She winked at some of the buffer dudes like Conor, Tristan and Anton.

"Are they co-ed cabins Chris?" Joey asked, anxiously curious herself.

"No, dudes get one side of each cabin, girls get the other." Chris explained.

"Excuse me Chris but may I please get a room with a big storage facility so I may study the fauna of this habitat." Velma insisted.

"OK, that's not how this works Velma." Chris clarified.

"Damn right. No way am I gonna have some nasty-ass bugs crawling up on my tres-chique outfits." Deon added.

"Oh, they wouldn't roam around, they'd be kept in the optimum containment devices available to-" her lips were forcibly closed by an annoyed Conor.

"This is gonna suck so hard." Tristan negatively implied. Anton then put an arm on his shoulder and comforted Tristan.

"Don't worry amigo. This is will be a fun experience, I guarantee." Rose then walked over to them both.

"Yeah maybe for you guys, but you won't have to put up with her at night." Rose pointed to Yamazaki who rolled a die in front of a squirrel.

"Curses, my Flame of Agidyne was ineffective. You are a worthy adversary my furry nemesis." Yamazaki glared at the confused creature, sharing the feelings of the viewing trio who saw it too.

"Here's the deal. We're gonna split you into 2 teams. If I call your name out, go stand over there." He pointed to the left.

"Claire." She looked disinterested.

"Kevin." The boy smiled.

"Gabriel." He nodded proudly.

"Jela." She looked happy and looked impressed at the next name.

"Anton." He noticed her sceptically.

"Velma." Her attention was on a crawling hermit crab until that callout.

"Jeffrey." He was uninterested.

"Zveif." He fist-pumped and looked at Jela.

"Kali." She smiled normally.

"Edward." He raised his eyebrows at the camera.

"And Dianne." She nodded to Chris. "From this moment on, you will be officially known as…" he tossed a green flag to Kevin unfurled it. "the Screaming Gophers." The flag showed a gopher who looked ready to knock a punk out.

"Wonder why our mascot's a gopher?" Edward remarked.

"Well, gophers are known to violent creatures when threatened and-" Kevin answered his rhetorical question.

"That was rhetorical idiot." Edward rudely responded. Kevin just gave an apologetic smile.

"The rest of you over to the right. Nick." He perked up at being first mentioned.

"Ria." She looked onwards nervously.

"Conor." He bowed in acknowledgement.

"Rose." She raised an eyebrow.

"Yamazaki." She curtsied at the mention.

"Griff." He nodded.

"Deon." He brushed his luxurious hair.

"Mayra." She smiled ready.

"Tristan." He lifted his head off his hand.

"Joey." She looked to her right.

"And Farah." She jumped to her feet energetically. "Move, move, move."

"Can it wait. I need to exact my vengeance upon this pest." Yamazaki glared at her furry opponent, who stuck its tongue out in retaliation. Joey walked up to her reluctantly and took her by the arm.

"Come on, Yamazaki. You can do that later." She guided the girl towards the team. Yamazaki however moved her fingers from her eyes to the squirrel, warning it and the squirrel just turned the camera and shook its head confidently.

"You guys will officially be known as…" Chris chucked a red flag towards Conor "the Killer Bass." Conor unfurled the flag to reveal an angry fish ready for confrontation.

"I will represent this proud flag with honour and determination." Conor stated with a warrior's spirit.

"Alright campers, you and your team will be on camera in all public areas during this competition." Chris reminded them.

* * *

 **~Chris Confessional~**

Sat in a dirty, fly ridden outhouse latrine Chris showed off the confessional area by speaking to its camera. "You will also be able to share your innermost thoughts with video diaries in our outhouse confessional, anytime you want. Let the audience at home know what you're really thinking. Or just get something off your chest." He winked to camera.

 **~Ria Confessional~**

"Okay, I'm not sure this was such a good idea anymore." She sat rigidly, clearly nervous.

 **~Jeffrey Confessional~**

"This place is disgusting. Has it ever been washed?" He took in the outhouse with immense distaste.

 **~Jela Confessional~**

She is doing her make-up aided by a pocket mirror. Once done she states to the camera "Got to maintain looking this damn fine." She suggestively posed for the camera.

 **~Edward Confessional~**

An enthusiastic and mobile Edward announced "Yo, what's up TV world? My name is Edward. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. It's called-" Static cuts him off.

* * *

"Alright any questions?" Velma was about to raise her hand before Claire stopped her. "Cool. Let's find your cabins."

The drab wooden cabins are now in view. They look shabbily built on cinderblocks and old wooden support beams. Chris walks into the camera frame, "Gophers, you're in the east, Bass, you're in the west." signalling to the respective cabins.

The doors to the cabins were opened and all the rooms looked the same. 3 bunkbeds with ugly yellow sheets and an iron furnace heater. The chest of drawers all had missing knobs and chipped pieces of wood. Most mirrors were also either cracked or missing bits of glass. Thankfully the windows, though dirty on the edges, did not suffer the same fate. Their curtains did have holes and tears in them though.

"Ugh, this place is as unkempt as my theatre's prop storage." Kali moaned towing her luggage.

"It's definitely a fixer-upper." Dianne agreed with optimism. Kevin walked in too to both girls' surprise and he started unpacking. "Um, Kevin, I think you're on the wrong side."

Kevin turned to the voice and smiled sheepishly. He quickly repacked and ran out to Claire sending mischievous looks his way.

"Stick to the guys side you little perv." She proceeded to shove him into Anton who just opened the guys dorm. He helped the boy up before heading inside as Claire snickered to herself while Kevin started getting up holding his head.

From the Bass cabin Tristan called Chris. "Yo Chris. There's no electricity in the cabins. I need a shave man." Tristan held up his electric razor.

"There's ports in the communal bathroom just across the way." Chris informed him.

"Oh man that show rocks." Griff blurted out not fully paying attention.

"Not Community Griff. Communal bathrooms." Chris reiterated.

"You mean we'll be showering together. Nice." Jela shared her thoughts of that update.

Claire saw her excitement and looked at Kevin while leaning against the wall. "Here I was thinking you were the perv." Kevin nodded in agreement.

"Sorry about that by the way. I promise it was a misunderstanding." Kevin apologised.

"It's fine kid. I was just teasing you." Claire said annoyed that she had to explain something so obvious.

"Right. I knew that. But still." Kevin said failing at covering his misunderstanding again. Claire rolled her eyes and walked back in the girls' dorm.

"Excuse me Chris. Will there be anyone to chaperone us during the competition?" Joey asked observing the lack of security in the cabins.

"You're all 16 years old. As old as a Counsellor-in-Training at a regular summer camp. So other than myself, you'll be unsupervised. You've got a half-hour to unpack then meet me at the main lodge. Starting now." Chris explained looking at his watch before walking off to the lodge.

"Right. That's cool. Yep." Joey said wary of the perv comments she overheard earlier. Her worries were interrupted by a girly scream coming from… the guys side of the Bass cabin.

Deon was on his bed startled by a cockroach climbing on one of his designer shirts.

"Get that nasty thing away from my Gucci's. Now!" Deon demanded in fear as some people watched from the door. Tristan came in to try and squash it but failed. As it started crawling the other Velma ran in with a jar at the ready.

"Don't kill it. I want to study its behaviour." Velma tried to trap the creature but missed herself. As it climbed on a bunkbed post, Conor sliced the creature in 2 with a clean chop. He took a receding breath as the dead insects' halves dropped to the floor.

"Wow, that was cool." Ria gushed over Conor's martial arts skills.

"Oh-em-gee, thank you so much. Those things are grosser than gas station chilli." Deon expressed thanks at the cockroach's demise. Conor nodded humbly at the praise. Joey ran over to comfort a traumatised Deon. "Girl, I'm going to have to disinfect that Gucci for a week." He dramatically stated to Joey who laughed with him on that.

Velma continued to eye the cockroach and asked, "So will anyone mind if I take this corpse for an autopsy?" Everyone in the room and at the door gave her funny looks. "What?"

* * *

Once everyone had sorted out their rooming situation they made their way to mess hall. All the contestants lined up for food with Zveif and Jela at the front. Behind the counter in the open kitchen, a buff, dark skinned man in a cooking uniform brought a vat to the front. He gave them all a serious stare. "Listen up. I serve it 3 times a day and you will eat it 3 times a day." He was shouting with an intimidating inflection. "Grab a tray, get your food and sit your buts down NOW!" His last loud command cause so of the cutlery to shake.

Zveif grabbed his tray and looked hopefully at Chef Hatchet as he asked, "Does this food or will any of your food have a high sugar content? I'm hypoglycemic." Chef squint at the boy who regretted everything he just said.

"You'll get a high pain content if you don't sit your ass down now!" Chef leaned over and growled at the escaping Zveif. Jela looked at her tray of meat and look repulsed.

"Do you have a problem with my food woman?" Chef interrogated the beauty before she shook her head and tried not to gag as she walked away with her tray.

"Geez, what a pig." Joey said to Edward who acknowledged that statement with a nod.

"What was that?" Chef asked aggressively. He gestured Joey to come over "Do you wanna repeat what you just said Bubblegum?"

"I, er, didn't say anything relevant about you or your food." Joey fearfully got out before taking her own food.

"I'm sure you didn't and won't." Chef warned her. Edward was not going to complain himself before Chef grabbed the frail boy and said "You, skinny boy, I didn't finish serving your food." He gave the YouTuber an extra portion of what is affectionately referred to as meat. The boy took his food and reluctantly took it to his seat.

Jeffrey got his next as Mayra followed behind him. She decided to be courteous with the man. "So, how are things with you partner?" Mayra asked kindly. Jeffrey eyed her sceptically before joining his own team members. She looked awkwardly before saying "Well nice chatting with ya."

Mayra was startled as Chef shouted "NEXT!" She took her food and jetted to her table.

After a few more campers were served without vocal complaints, Yamazaki was next as Dianne and her both got their trays together. Yamazaki, despite clear warning signs, decided to ask Chef questions "Excuse me, but will this meal provide all the sustenance I need in order to take on an invading goblin army." Chef began sharpening a knife in front of her in response to the enquiry.

Dianne stepped in and said, "I'm sure it will." Yamazaki seemed content at that answer and took her food to join her team members. Dianne was about to leave too before seeing her meal move. Frightened she hesitantly asked Chef "Err, what do I do if my food is moving?" Chef proceeded to bring a mallet down on her food and Dianne just frightfully said "Right, good to know." She walked off with her food singing and reassuring song to herself as she sat down.

Once everyone was served and struggling to digest on even begin eating their 'food', Chris entered the mess hall to begin proceedings. "Welcome to the main lodge."

"Chris, do you think we could get some proper food instead of this gruel?" Gabriel asked in hope. However, his hopes were dashed as a cleaver flew past his head to his horror and everyone's shock. Some cowered in fear as Chef stabbed a knife into his counter while sending a murderous glare towards Gabriel. "I change my mind. This gruel is delicious. Isn't that right guys?" Gabriel got some terrified reassurance sparing him from Chef's further wrath. For now.

Chris paying no mind to the events notifies the cast "Your first challenge begins in one hour. Get your swimsuits ready." Chris leaves after that leaving everyone to ponder what challenge awaits.

"Oh god. What fresh hell awaits us?" Ria uttered, anxious about what's to come.

Nick jinxed everything by implying. "Please, our first challenge will child's play."

* * *

Like Child's Play though, it was more sadistic than everyone thought it would be. Both teams found themselves at the top of a humongous cliff overlooking a small lake. Many of them recoiled at the prospect of falling from the cliff. Nick summed up his regret at assuming a smooth beginning with one simple statement.

"Well, shit."


	2. Not-so Happy Campers Part 2

**This came later than I had intended. Getting asked to decorate your old bedroom for your little sister because you're moving out will do that.** **Also because the author just bought Persona 5 and has gotten addicted to it. Don't do video-games kids.**

* * *

Chris is stood on the dock with his arms open, "Last time on Total Drama Island." he announces.

"We met our 22 campers, who have signed up to spend 8 weeks at this crummy old summer camp."

 _Highlights of some of the campers' entrances are shown, including Nick's disapproval at not being the first arrival, Farah's crash landing from her wakeboard and Claire's tagging of her boat._

"Many of them adjusted to the new surroundings. Others, not so much." Chris heckled at that truth.

 _Clips of Yamazaki glaring at the squirrel and Anton reassuring Tristan. At the latter statement, clips of Deon being frightened by the cockroach and Kevin being pushed into Anton by Claire._

"Campers found out about Chef's culinary skills and the luxury of our Outhouse Confessional."

 _Dianne is shown being startled by her moving food and Gabriel nearly being destroyed by a meat cleaver. Clips of Ria's nervous confessional and Jeffrey's disgusted confessional are replayed._

"And Nick decided to tempt fate by assuming this would be an easy ride."

 _The clip of Nick's arrogant assumption is replayed before the transition to the menacing cliff is shown along with Nick's reaction to this._

Back at the dock, Chris has his left palm open with his arm outstretched. "Who will survive the first challenge?" Chris then does the same with his right arm. "Who will be sending their first team member home?" Chris points to the camera. "All this to be answered, right here." Chris raises his arms and volume more with each dramatic word "on Total! Drama! Island!"

* * *

 _Theme song and opening cinematic_

* * *

In present time, all the contestants, clad in their swimsuits, are at the top of the cliff with expressions ranging from uncertain to terrified. Chris is facing them all with a wooden crate beside him and different coloured flags. "OK, today's challenge is three-fold. Your first challenge is to jump from this 1,000-foot-high cliff, into the lake."

Mayra looks at a scared Ria and says in a comforting manner "Should be easy enough, right?" Ria still looked petrified, especially with Chris's next explanation.

"If you look down, you'll see two target areas." Those areas are shown on camera with floating buoys, one being immediately larger than the tiny circle area inside it. "The wider area represents the part of the lake that we have stocked with psychotic, ha ha, man-eating sharks." The deadly creature's fins are shown circling in the water. One jumps up to snatch a seagull straight out of the air.

"Inside that area is a safe zone. That's your target area, which we're pretty sure is shark-free." Chris pointed at the target area but that wasn't the main point of confusion for Griff.

"Um, how sure is sure?" Griff fearfully asked. Chris see-sawed his left hand while making an uncertain sound to go with his guilty face.

"In the safe zone is flags with the colour and logo of your team." Chris showed off those flags for the teens. "You're allowed the one try from your dive to grab a flag before you come up to the surface. However, you're not allowed your try if you don't land in the safe zone. Whichever team grabs the most, earns an advantage in the third part of the challenge."

"What about the second part of the challenge? Can we get any advantages for that?" Jeffrey enquired.

"Good question Jeff." An annoyed grunt escaped Jeffrey.

* * *

 **~Jeffrey Confessional~**

His arms are folded with obvious outrage on his face. "McLean is an egotistical S.O.B that will only have things to his liking. Why must he call me Jeff?! Normally with someone like that, you'd kiss up to them for an advantage." His outrage drops to a confident smile "However, I'm above that. Besides, I don't need his help to get the prize money." He bares his teeth. "Survive today and I'll have plenty of opportunities to study my competition and ensure my progression to the finale."

* * *

"The team that has the most jumpers that actually survive, a crate of supplies will be waiting for you for the next part of your challenge." 7 crates of supplies were revealed to be stacked on the lake beach. "The team that has the most jumpers will win…" Chris draws out the dramatic pause. "a cart to pull all your supplies back to the cabins."

"Why did that warrant a dramatic pause?" Kali asked underwhelmed.

"Trust me Kali, audiences eat these reveals up. Not to mention, you'll want those carts so you can spend more time building your own, wicked Hot Tub!" Chris' true reveal earnt a few cheers and elated moves from the campers.

"Now that is a reward I can get behind. Those on my scale of fabulousness deserve to relax in luxury." Deon stated matter-of-factly. Most of the Gophers were too excited about the Hot Tub themselves to argue about the latter.

"Well if you want it so badly then Deon, we'll have the Killer Bass up first then." Chris brought them back to reality. Panicked looks returned to some of the Bass' faces. Those members exchanged awkward glances.

"Anybody want to go first?" Farah asked eagerly. Nick caught sight of her readiness and pushed her to the side.

"I would be happy to go first. Just…er…" Nick peered over the edge of the cliff and became much more reluctant to take the risk. "I…er… I, I just… need to stretch first." Nick lied clearly stalling for time with some half-hearted leg exercises.

"It's OK if you're scared buddy. Let me show you how it's done." Farah ran past him and leaped towards the lake.

* * *

 **~Farah Confessional~**

"I've jumped off higher. Normally, I'd have a bungee cord attached to me though." She makes a whooshing sound as she spreads her arms out like she's falling.

* * *

Farah can be seen falling in the aforementioned pose. Nick taking offense to being called 'scared' replied "Hey, I was gonna be first!" Nick jumped to try and chase after her. On his way down her shouted "Don't steal my spotliiiiiight!" Both landed in the safe zone and came up with a flag for their team. Nick glared at her furiously, feeling his possible moment of glory ruined.

"Woo-wee! You go guys!" Mayra gave them an ovation then turns to her remaining teammates. "See y'all, now that don't seem so bad. Ya coming." Mayra dives off too, screaming happily during her descent. She lands in safe zone as emerging with a flag and begins swimming to join Nick and Farah on the boat, high-fiving Farah as she climbs on.

Back on the cliff, Conor takes a deep breath and dives off by performing a jumping roundhouse kick before changing his form into a pencil dive. As he lands in the water, Ria looks at him with huge admiration.

* * *

 **~Ria Confessional~**

"Such powerful emphasis in his attacks. No hesitation at jumping. Not to mention, still incredibly graceful in his movement." Ria fondly speaks of Conor while gushing over him. She then immediately turns a bright red as she remembers she's being recorded. "Oh… please don't air this."

* * *

Underwater, we see Conor looking at the flags. He notices that the remaining Bass flags are with varying sea-based obstacles in the way. Stinging anemones, spiky sea urchins, electric eels etc. all provided a plethora of painful options for him. He eyes the urchins and gets himself in a front facing stance. He launches his right arm towards the urchins and clears them away from his flag. Grabbing it with his left hand, he makes his way back to the surface. Waving the flag to his team, they gasp as his right hand is covered in urchins. He shakes them off and makes his way to the boat that returned from dropping off the other Bass members.

* * *

 **~Conor Confessional~**

"My senseis over my years of training have drilled it into me that pain is all mental." He points to his temple. "The idea is that as you build a higher pain threshold, you will become more disciplined and in turn, develop into a more enlightened human being."

* * *

As Conor swam to the boat, his hand started bleeding and leaving a trail towards him. Shark fins protruded from the water following the bloody trail. Ria took note and screamed "Conor, swim faster!" Conor couldn't hear her and soon the sharks caught up to him. Upon hearing their fins cutting through the water, he immediately began picking up his pace. With the sharks snapping at his kicking legs he climbs on the boat and proceeds to kick them on their noses, driving them away from him. Ria breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was an unfortunate accident. So, who's next?" Chris asked looking expectedly at Ria who was clearly fearing the prospect of Conor's near-death experience happening to her.

"But… the sharks…" Ria fearfully said. Biting a nail, she choked out "I'm sorry team. I can't."

Chris walked up to her and put his right arm on her shoulder. "Don't worry Ria. It's OK if you don't want to jump." Ria smiled at the sympathy Chris gave him. At least, she did for a second. "However, not jumping also makes you a chicken, so you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day." Chris joyfully placed a yellow chicken hat on Ria's hat who looked down shamefully. "Bawk, bawk, bawk. The chicken path is down that way." Ria took the wimp escalator down to the beach. "Next!" Chris instructed to the Bass.

A quick montage of Bass jumpers was soon shown. Rose jumped down and screamed all the way down from the thrill. Joey screamed to but hers was more of a terrified shriek as she hit the safe zone as well. Both girls came up with flags for the Bass. Tristan soon followed with a cannonball jump. He ended up hitting an outcropping on the cliff but thankfully made it into the safe zone. His pain train wasn't complete though as his flag came with a shocking experience from an electric eel attached to the flag.

Chris checked his clipboard. "That's 7 jumpers and 1 chicken with 7 flags picked up. Just 3 left to jump. Are you guys going anytime soon?" He turned to Griff, Deon and Yamazaki.

"You seriously cannot expect me to jump into that grubby muck you call water. It will totally stain my swimsuit." Deon stated.

"You do realise what you just said is absurd, right?" Griff said in disbelief.

"How exactly?" Deon retorted causing Griff to facepalm. "I'm staying right here."

Griff clearly realising he was fighting a losing battle removed his hand from his face and exhaled in annoyance. "Fine then. I'm sure the chicken hat will look great with your budgie-smugglers." Griff began to walk away to prep a run up but Deon's faced recoiled in horror at the thought of wearing the unfashionable headwear.

"Wait, I'll go! I'll go! Give me a minute!" Deon cried. He opened a bottle of baby oil and began pouring it all over himself. Throwing the bottle away, he walked up to the cliff's edge and whispered to himself. "Please let my outfit be safe." He then jumped into the safe zone, screeching all the way down but thankfully, for the Bass, he came up with a flag. The Bass cheered from the beach. "AHHHHHHH!" Deon squealed and put his hand in the water. He pulled out a fish holding his speedos. Deon was grossed out along with his teammates and Deon proceeded to rip his swimsuit out of the fish's mouth.

"Nice one man. I'mma coming." Griff began his run up and was gaining momentum. He was soon stopped by Deon's discarded bottle of oil, slipping towards a distracted Yamazaki.

"A single digit roll allows for protection from sea creatures but over 30 guarantees no serious injuries. Hmm…" Yamazaki soon felt the impact of Griff's fall causing her dice to be knocked out of her hand. "No!" She watches her dice fall off the cliff. "Watch yourself you uncoordinated troglodyte." She kicked the now unconscious Griff in his gut and dived after her precious items.

* * *

 **~Griff Confessional~**

Griff is holding an icepack to his head while his other arm holds his bruised stomach. "Ugh… How do you hurt your stomach when you're out cold?"

* * *

Yamazaki was unfortunate enough to dive into the shark-infested waters instead of the safe zone. While underwater, she caught sight of her dice falling towards a dark crevice. Wiping her forehead in relief at finding them, she began swimming towards the crevice. She was soon back out though as a giant eel with sharp teeth emerged and swallowed the dice. Screaming in agony underwater at her fallen allies, she swam to the surface, coughing up water and wailed in despair as the boat came for her.

"Nice, haha." Chris again pulled out his note clipboard. "No flag for Yamazaki and with Griff out of commission for this round," the camera panned to Griff being escorted by interns towards the beach with a newly placed chicken hat. "that makes 9 jumpers with 8 flags and 2 chickens." He addressed the Gophers next. "Screaming Gophers, if you can top both of those, you can win pull-carts to put your crates as well as an advantage for the third part of the challenge."

"Nice. So, does anyone want to go first?" Dianne kindly asked.

"Sorry guys. I don't like heights." Velma said walking down the escalator with a chicken hat already on her head.

"Great. The rest of us are gonna have to jump to get the advantage." Claire pointed out frustrated.

"Relax my fellow Gophers. As a leading candidate for representing the Gophers, I have a firm belief that the determination I see in your eyes will lead us to success. We have it within ourselves to gain opportunities and make the most of them in order to ensure our immediate victory in this competition. Who's with me?" Gabriel said in a rousing speech. He was soon grabbed by Claire.

"Nice speech. So why don't you lead by example Dorkbama." Claire chucked the politician off the cliff who screamed as he fell into the safe zone. He emerged with a Gopher flag in his swollen, red hand.

"Owwwwwww." Gabriel yelled in pain wincing at the ruined hand.

* * *

 **~Gabriel Confessional~**

"Yes, I may be hurt but no matter what obstacle is in my way, I will overcome it and not let the critics of my methods stop me from coming out on top." Gabriel spoke confidently. He then sat on the potty and dropped his confident act. He held his arm with the swollen hand and grunted in pain. "Good thing the media cut out moments of weakness from broadcast for decent authority figures." He remarked naively.

* * *

Claire jumped off the cliff and came up with the goods for the Gophers too, holding her flag without any sign of injury. Dianne followed after, flailing about as she descended into the safe zone. Kali was next diving extremely calmly and gracefully. Edward yelled "Subscribe to my channel!" as he made his way down. All 3 came up with flags and the Gophers were meeting the target.

Zveif flicked a gumball into his mouth and high-fived a frightened Kevin. "Let's gooooooo!" Zveif roared as he ran up to the cliff edge and jumped. Zveif produced his flag while spitting out sea water. "Blech! Now all my gumballs are salty." Zveif complained as he chucked his wad of gum away.

Back on the cliff, Kevin backed away from the edge. "I can't do this man." Kevin cried, panic-stricken at the thought of something going wrong. He was stopped while backing away by Jela.

"Aww, Kevin. I know you're scared babe." She grabbed his chin and pulled his face close to hers. "I am too but I'm sure I could do it too if…" she runs her fingers up and plays with his hair. "I saw a cute lil man like yourself be so brave and show me how it's done." She said with a sultry tone. Kevin blushed and began running towards the cliff edge.

"For Jela!" Kevin shouted with Jela looking satisfied with the result.

* * *

 **~Jela Confessional~**

Jela checked her nails. "Boys are so easy to use. Throw them a flirty look and make them feel like they're the man you want and they'll bend over backwards for you." She folded her arms in a way that emphasized her chest and crossed her legs. "Special boy is no different."

* * *

Kevin was still running but tripped over his own feet and fell off the edge of the cliff. Jela and winced while Anton held his arm out from the edge of the cliff, failing to catch Kevin. "No, Kevin!" Anton rapidly grabbed Jeffrey's arm and dragged him along. "Come on man, we've gotta go help him."

"Let go, wait... no…" Jeffrey's protests were useless as Anton's strength dragged him off the cliff, despite his efforts at digging his heels to stop it. Jeffrey was screaming all the way down as both guys saw Kevin fall into the shark-infested waters. Both Anton and Jeffrey both made it into the safe-zone however, picking up flags before going to help Kevin. The unconscious Kevin could not prevent himself from being circled by the bloodthirsty sharks toying with their prey. As they closed in, Anton did his bit fighting off sharks as he directed Jeffrey to help Kevin to the surface. Jeffrey did so as quick as he could, even despite his reluctance and lifted Kevin to safety. Jeffrey coughed out water upon surfacing and growled "I'm gonna kill Anton for dragging me into this." He hit the back of Kevin with his flag-holding hand and got him too cough out his excess water too. Kevin soon regained consciousness and caught the face of his saviour.

"Thanks man." Kevin said while coughing up more water.

"Don't mention it." Jeffrey uttered with a contempt Kevin didn't catch. Anton soon joined them as the boat approached the boys. Anton was covered noticeably in fresh scratches as he surfaced.

Back on the cliff, Chris covered his megaphone with his hand and muttered to the camera "That is going to make for some awesome ratings." He then brought the megaphone properly to his mouth and spoke to the beached campers. "Alright campers. We have one jumper left for the Gophers. If she makes it, you guys win the challenge. No pressure."

"Like there ever was honey." Jela confidently replied adjusting her swimsuit. The Screaming Gophers were all cheering Jela on and giving her motivation. The Killer Bass were praying for a miracle. Unfortunately, the miracle never happened as Jela approached the cliff edge and flung herself elegantly off. The Gophers beamed as she landed comfortably into the safe zone. Joey had her fingers tightly crossed waiting for Jela to surface, hoping at the very least, she hadn't got a flag. Again, Bass hopes were dashed as she surfaced and posed with her Gopher flag and winked towards the camera.

"Yes, you beauty you." Anton roared as the boat approached Jela. He helped her out of the water onto to the boat giving hugs to him, Jeffrey, who allowed the display of affection and Kevin, who was put into a dreamlike state by Jela's hold.

"As if there was any doubt I was gonna let you lovely gents down." Jela said releasing Kevin back to reality.

"And the winners! The Screaming Gophers!" Chris announced via megaphone.

"You were awesome, Jela." Kali said as the boat moored on the beach.

"I know, I know. Thank you, guys." Jela said acting dismissive of the praise.

* * *

 **~Jela Confessional~**

"Yeah baby. I know I'm the best and now my team knows it too. Victory is all because of me." Jela bragged as she fell into a relaxed position.

* * *

"Gophers, grab your carts and by the shore. Both teams need to get their crates to the campsite as soon as you can. The sooner you get there, the more time you have to work on building their hot-tubs." Gophers went over to their prize as the Bass groaned at their upcoming task.

* * *

 **~Nick Confessional~**

Nick growled in frustration. "Gah! My team is full of imbeciles." Nick put his face in his hands.

 **~Ria Confessional~**

Ria was downtrodden. "I let the team down. I have to make it up to them and be more of a presence." She said trying to motivate herself.

 **~Griff Confessional~**

Griff awoke from his unconscious state. "Ugh." Griff removed his hand and looked at the slippery sheen it had. "Why is my head covered in baby oil?"

* * *

The Screaming Gophers were towing their carts and had their 7 boxes split amongst the 4 carts. Anton pulled one on his own, Zveif and Kali shared another as did Gabriel and Edward and all had 2 boxes. The last one was pulled by Jeffrey and Claire and had one box with Dianne banging it in a familiar rhythm. The rest of the Gophers walked alongside the carts.

"When the Gophers." Dianne sang enthusiastically.

"When the Gophers." Every Gopher repeated.

"Go marching in."

"Go marching in."

"When the Gophers go marching in." Dianne chanted with vigour. "We're gonna build an awesome hot-tub, when the Gophers go marching in."

* * *

Back with the Bass, they not as feeling as musical as their opponents. While Conor, Deon and Tristan didn't have too much trouble moving their crates on their own, the rest were struggling to either drag them across the beach or carry them co-operatively without struggle. Nick and Farah were pushing one as well as Joey and Ria. Rose and Griff were carrying theirs together well enough while Mayra was pulling hers with her lasso with Yamazaki behind the crate not trying.

"Yamaguchi, could ya give a bit more elbow grease into it?" Mayra asked exhausted at pulling the crate. Yamazaki ignored the name mispronunciation and sighed as she put a tiny bit more force into her push. Mayra shook her head at the display as they carried on. "Gosh darn it." Mayra mumbled.

* * *

 **~Mayra Confessional~**

"That Kawasaki girl has gotta get her head in the game. I loved ma steed Samwell but that don't mean I can't get a new pet when he went and got himself lost on our tour of the glue factory." Mayra crossed her arms in satisfaction at her explanation before widening her eyes are the realisation of what she just said. "SAMWELL!" Mayra cried out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Griff lost his footing and dropped the crate. Griff tried to hold himself up but fell onto the sandy beach. Rose walked over to help Griff up yet asked irritated "What the hell are you doing, Griff?"

Holding his head and accepting Rose's aid he answered "Sorry, I'm still a bit loopy from my coma."

Both went back to lifting the crate and carried on walking. "How'd you even get like that?" Rose enquired.

"Wish, I could tell. All I know is I was running up to the cliff before I slipped or tripped on something and clashed with something or someone." Griff points to a bruise on his forehead. "Next thing I know, I got this bruise, I'm covered in oil and I'm wearing a chicken hat." Deon eavesdropped on this conversation from ahead and sighed at hearing it.

* * *

 **~Deon Confessional~**

"Man, I feel totally awful about Griff. I just wanted to look more fabulous, not hurt anyone. I defo owe him an apology makeover. Lord knows he could use it." Deon said apologetically, I guess.

* * *

Nick and Farah were alongside each other pushing their crate and Nick kept turning to scowl at Farah who kept returning confused expressions. Farah eventually relented and asked "Why do you keep looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Farah quickly brushed her face.

"Don't act like you don't know what you did." Nick hissed.

"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about." Farah responded aptly.

"Fine. Be that way. Just don't hold me back from getting to the campgrounds first." Nick threatened. He pulled out his gold medal from behind his shirt. "This is the only standard I'll accept from you and our team."

Farah read the wording on the medal aloud. "10th grade spelling bee champion." Farah looked up at an arrogant Nick, completely baffled at his delusion of grandeur. "Right. Got it. Let's keep moving." Farah said hoping to end the farcical conversation. As both got back to pushing the crate, she turned to the camera and span her finger around her temple.

Dianne was still leading the group in song as the Gophers kept transporting their hot-tub parts. Every Gopher sang "There was a Buffalo Soldier, in the heart of America."

Dianne jumped out the cart and put her arm round Velma's shoulders and continued. "Stolen from Africa. Brought to America. Fighting on arrival. Fighting for survival."

The song was interrupted by Kali shouting "Look. There's the campgrounds." The campgrounds indeed came into view for everyone with Chris waiting in the centre.

"Let's get this challenge won guys." Gabriel yelled, prompting a cheer from the Gophers as the sped to the campgrounds.

Chris turned to the approaching Gophers and snapped his fingers. He got a touch-up from a make-up artist and smiled ready. "Welcome Gophers. Your first to arrive. Good job." Chris praised half-heartedly.

"What's our advantage?" Jeffrey asked.

"Your advantage is getting to open your crates the conventional way. The Bass will have to do theirs… differently." Chris chuckled. "Get to it."

The Gophers got to opening their crates and pulled out the contents.

"I've got tools in my crate." Anton told everyone.

"I'm pretty sure mines got a pool liner." Edward announced.

"Mines got the parts for the water heater." Claire informed.

"So, the rest of them must have wood." Jeffrey deduced. He turned the crate Claire emptied over and stood on his soapbox. "Alright Gophers, we're going to need cooperation and a clear direction for who does what. Does anyone have issue with me being project manager for this challenge?" Jeffrey questioned.

"Er, yeah. What makes you most qualified to lead this?" Gabriel enquired enviously.

"I have years of experience working on scientific projects and probably have the most knowledge of electrical engineering out of all of you." Jeffrey stated prompting a few nods of acceptance from the Gophers. "I'm sure you understand that delegating those with more experience into certain roles makes for a stronger Cabinet in politics Gabriel. It's the same here. So, those who oppose speak now?" After a few seconds of silence Jeffrey smiled proudly and brought the Gophers in for a huddle. "Right, here's how we'll do this."

* * *

Back with the Bass, they were slowly getting closer to the campgrounds but a few were straggling behind. Joey, Ria, Mayra and Yamazaki were struggling to keep pace with the rest who kept their focus on making it to the campgrounds as soon as possible. "Ugh, I'm sweating like crazy." Yamazaki whinged.

Mayra was fanning herself with her Stetson as she was pulling the crate. "The sooner we get back, the sooner we can get in the shade. It'd prolly help if ya ditched the cape n' hood too."

Yamazaki replied offended at Mayra's suggestion. "How can you even say that? This armour is designed to repel necromancer arcana. I'd be dead without."

"Say what now?" Mayra eloquently replied.

With Joey and Ria, their exhaustion was getting the best of them too. Joey panted "I'm so done with manual labour."

Ria reassured Joey and herself. "We're close. Just keep helping me push. I need to make myself useful for the team after I chickened out."

"Yeah. We need to show them what you're made of. I got your back girl." Joey turned to look at her and raised her hand.

"Yeah, that's what I-OH SWEET BABY JESUS!" Ria bellowed out when she turned to Joey who looked horrible. The sweat had caused her make-up to run and make her look terrifying. "Your face."

Joey ran to the water and looked at her reflection. She screamed at the highest pitch she could startling everyone on the island, including a bird that moulted its feathers from the noise. As Joey furiously scrubbed her face, Mayra and Yamazaki ran to her. "What's wrong sugar?" As Joey showed her natural face, both girls recoiled frightened at the state of a natural Joey. She had huge panda eyes and was showing extremely slightly stress lines.

* * *

 **~Joey Confessional~**

Her make-up is applied like before and sits in a foetal position. "I'm an avid campaigner for women's issues and while it's rewarding, I do end up getting a lot of sleepless nights because of it." She sat back to a normal position. "I was supposed to post a no make-up selfie once to show solidarity against the patriarchy as part of that but you saw how I looked. There was no way, I wanted 'that' up on the internet forever."

* * *

During that fiasco, the Bass that were ahead had made it to the campgrounds. They saw that the Gophers were significantly ahead with most of the hot-tubs outer wall nailed in place. Kali approached a box near them for more wood and courteously asked "Hey. You guys finally made it."

"We don't need your pity." Nick bit back at her.

"Relax dude, I'm not throwing you a pity party. I just wanted to get away from working for a bit." Kali coolly informed Nick pointing to a regimented micro-managing session from Jeffrey. Jeffrey saw Kali with the Gophers and sent Kevin over to her.

"Hey Kali, Jeff told me to get you back to work." Kevin said softly.

"I will. Give me a hand with this wood." Kali said handing it Kevin. Amid this, Kali asked "So, where's the rest of your team?"

"Does it have anything to that scream from earlier?" Kevin tacked on. Some Bass members just shrugged in ignorance.

* * *

Back with the girls, Mayra and Ria were consoling an ashamed Joey. "Listen sugar, I'm real sorry for getting all hooey when I saw ya like that. Just caught me off guard."

"Yeah. You still look good without the make-up." Ria falsely said to her.

"You don't have to lie to me. I know I look awful. I can't go back there looking like this."

"You're being dramatic. I've seen Goblins more disfigured than you look right now." Yamazaki bluntly said. This caused Joey to get upset again, crying into her hands. In turn Yamazaki got glares from the other two. "Sorry. Not good with humans." Yamazaki said shamefacedly as an excuse.

"Look Joey. If it'll make ya feel better, you can borrow ma hat to cover your face until we get back to the cabins. We'll keep this between us." Mayra comforted her.

"You promise?" Joey whimpered.

"We promise. I've already got a cover story ready for you." Ria told her, making Joey smile again as she took Mayra's hat from her and tilted it to cover her eyes and forehead. With a new-found vigour Joey got back to her feet and got behind her crate.

"Let's go." Joey said fired up.

* * *

The girls soon arrived and caught the attention of an unimpressed Conor. Joey kept the Stetson covering her face as she ran to the washroom. "What held you four up?"

"Sorry for the holdup y'all. Joey got herself into an ugly situation." Mayra unintentionally worded to Conor prompting an elbow from Ria.

"She had to take a leak in the woods and tripped, falling onto a rock. She hurt her nose pretty bad, so she's gone to clean it up." A flustered Ria lie causing Yamazaki to shake her head.

"Smooth." Yamazaki commented.

Conor looked at the girls not buying it but dropped the issue. "Fine, just come help us with the challenge. We're severely behind." The other 3 girls rushed to the hot-tub and ran to individual crates.

* * *

Cuts of both teams building their tubs are shown in a montage. Zveif is holding the last board in place while Anton hammers a nail into it. Next, Tristan and Rose get work assembling the water heater and bubble jets exchanging tools as they go along. With the Gophers, Velma clears off insects from the inside and outside of the tub, storing some in test tubes as she combs the tub. Deon is then shown to be lifting a large pile of planks out of a crate and passing them to hammering 'experts' Farah and Griff. Next, the Gophers lined up from the beach to the tub and passed along a bucket to fill up the tub in an efficient manner. Finally, Ria and a fresher looking Joey rolled up the pool liner and attached it to the side of the tub ready.

Chris appeared for judging and both team's hot-tubs looked in marvellous condition. He inspected the Gophers first, getting on the steps to see steam rise from the water and great craftsmanship used to create the wooden exterior. Furthermore, with minimal noise from the electricals Chris concluded "This… is an awesome hot-tub." Gophers naturally reacted to his praise with cheers and high-fives.

Following that, he approached the Bass. He saw everything look just as magnificent as the Gophers tub and the Bass were finally hopeful that things would go their way. After looking around the tub, surveying the Bass' handiwork, he stood in between both teams. "Well, I think we have a winner." Both teams looked on nervously as Chris built the tension. He then raised his right arm and announced, "The Screaming Gophers!" This prompted jubilant celebrations from the Gophers while some Bass look either shocked or enraged.

"What the hell, Chris! What made their hot-tub better than ours?" Tristan questioned irately.

"It was close but the Gophers had their given steps attached to their tub. You guys didn't." Chris answered.

"But there weren't any parts for stairs in our crates." Farah argued.

"Although it would explain these leftover nails." Griff said holding up a plastic bag with said contents.

"I thought those were spares." Joey said shocked.

"Well they weren't. All parts were accounted for before the challenge began. Therefore, I'll be seeing you guys at the bonfire ceremony tonight." Chris reminded the Bass who all looked at each other in nervous anticipation of the first vote-off.

The Gophers meanwhile were dancing and cheering each other on. During this, Anton approached Jeffrey "Hey Jeffrey. Listen, I'm not sure if anyone has told you this yet but thanks for managing us during the challenge. Gods know how disorganised we could have been without it."

Jeffrey smirked at his compliment "It was nothing. I simply put my skills to good effect and saw who would be best for what. It was quite simple." Jeffrey retorted.

"Right…" Anton mumbled at Jeffrey's phrasing. "Just make sure you aren't that rigorous all the time. I might as well be back in prison if you keep that up." Anton joked as Jeffrey snickered along with him while secretly giving him a studying look.

"I'll bear that in mind." Jeffrey said ominously.

* * *

In the mess hall, the Killer Bass sat around a dining table and traded awkward glances with one another. Breaking the uncomfortable silence Conor said "So, who does everybody think we should vote off?"

"Personally, I believe we should eliminate one of the two quitters wearing poultry hats." Nick venomously argued gesturing to Griff and Ria.

"Hey man, I didn't quit, I got knocked out." Griff defended himself.

"Yeah, I'm responsible for that one. Sorry Griff." Deon admitted.

"Very well, so you admit to sabotaging our team." Nick said accusingly of Deon who look horrified at that notion.

"Excuse you, Mr. Gold Licker but I jumped and took a crate all by myself to the campgrounds. I got there before most of you."

Nick acknowledged that and recanted his suggestion. "Very true. Perhaps, we should direct our focus on the foursome who were dragging their feet." Nick slammed the table and glared at the girls with all save Ria meeting his gaze.

"We didn't lag behind on purpose you know." Joey fired back.

"Yeah n' we all helped to build the hot-tub and we all jumped too." Mayra said before catching herself in her accidental lie. Ria suddenly felt powerless under the stares of her teammates.

"That's right, you didn't jump and you were one of the last ones there." Tristan reminded everyone causing Ria to sweat nervously and profusely.

"Well…I…er…" Ria couldn't offer a good defence for herself.

"Were you responsible for us losing the hot-tub challenge as well. Why don't you make it a trifecta and come clean?" Nick loomed over her menacingly before Joey pulled him away.

"Back off. She was with me the whole time when we built the hot-tub." Joey enlightened Nick who was about ready to blow a gasket.

"Yeah she right. I didn't see her leave or have anything like steps with her." Rose backed up Ria who relaxed a tad after Nick's interrogation.

"So, who was the one who lost the steps anyway?" Farah asked.

"That would be good to know. Ultimately, that person who was responsible for their disappearance resulted in our loss and should be sent home." Conor reasoned with nods coming from some Bass members.

"Does anyone have any leads about those steps then?" Farah asked leaning on the table top. The Bass were all quiet in thought thinking about leads. Their thoughts were interrupted by a clattering of wood on their table. Yamazaki was prepping herself for a game and dropped her dice.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you guys." Yamazaki apologised innocently before Mayra got up and walked over to her.

"Hold up one second there, partner. When'd ya get your dice back?" Mayra asked suspiciously.

"I-I went to the lake and got them from the water." Yamazaki quickly answered.

"But we came straight here after the challenge was over. How's that possible?" Griff explained her contradicting statement and soon Yamazaki was the centre of attention.

"They were easy to find." Yamazaki weakly offered.

"Speaking of find, I think we have our hot-tub culprit." Tristan accused. Yamazaki recoiled at his indictment and broke under the pressure of everyone's gazes.

"Fine, I made them." Yamazaki blurted out. "Just stop casting your demonic stares at me. I'm weak to fire magic." Yamazaki soon desperately offered. "B-but at least I jumped right. Not like Ria." Ria looked betrayed as Yamazaki soon covered her mouth in regret. The rest of the Bass looked between the two as they made their decisions.

* * *

Once t turned to night, the show transitions to the campfire ceremony 9 Bass members were staring down 2 of their teammates who shared guilty looks on their faces. Chris lifted the tray of marshmallows at his podium and addressed the Killer Bass. "Killer Bass, at camp marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you can enjoy by the fire." Chris pointed out the roaring fire in front of the Bass. "At this camp, marshmallows represent life." Chris dramatically explained. "You've all cast your votes and made your decision. There are only 10 marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight, must immediately walk back to the Dock of Shame," Chris swayed his arm towards the dock for the campers to see. "and catch the Boat of Losers. That means you're out of the contest… and you can't come back." Chris pointed at the Bass to emphasise his point "Ever!"

Chris picks up a fluffy marshmallow. "The first marshmallow goes to…"

"Rose." She ran up and grabbed the treat.

"Deon." He snapped his fingers and smiled.

"Nick." He grinned cockily.

"Tristan." He calmly got up to join the other safe competitors.

"Farah." She flipped off her stump to claim her safety.

"Joey." She sighed in relief.

"Griff." He looked happily in surprise and ran for his marshmallow.

"Mayra." She tipped her hat to her mention.

"Conor." He bowed in acknowledgement.

Chris became more serious as he said "Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening." Ria and Yamazaki shared scared looks between them. Chris built the tension as both girls began shaking in fear and he raised his arm in a pointing gesture. Ria bit her nails and Yamazaki gripped her cape in fear. Chris grabbed the marshmallow and leaned towards both girls whose eyes were darting between themselves and Chris. Chris lifted the marshmallow in their eyesight and said the last name after a few seconds of unbearable silence.

"Ria." The girl immediately beamed and rushed eagerly to get the last marshmallow. Meanwhile, Yamazaki looked gobsmacked at being the first elimination. "Can't say I'm shocked. If you lost to a squirrel. You weren't gonna last long dude." Chris said bluntly. He put down the now empty plate and walked towards a sad Yamazaki. "The Dock of Shame is that way." Chris pointed in southwards as Yamazaki put her hood over her face and made her way to the Boat of Losers.

"The rest of you, enjoy your marshmallows, you're all safe. For tonight." Chris said ominously.

* * *

Back at the campgrounds the Gophers were partying to their success. Dianne and Kali were jamming together on the steps as Kevin, Edward and Velma danced to the music. Claire sprayed the hot-tub with the team logo as the rest chilled in the hot-tub. Zveif raised his chocolate milk and made a toast. "To the Screaming Gophers. Here's to more victories in the future." The rest of Gophers applauded and continued their partying ways. Jela put her arm around Jeffrey who flinched at the contact but let her off. Their celebrations were heard by a returning Bass team who walked forlorn into their cabins.

* * *

 **~Ria Confessional~**

"OK that was way too close. I'm going to have to be more of a presence if I'm going to survive. Problem is, I'm not too good at the whole assertive thing. This gonna be hard." Ria and sounded distraught at the events.

* * *

Ria sighed as she was the last girl to enter the cabin and saw Yamazaki's boat disappear over the horizon. She then caught sight of the partying Gophers and sluggishly walked to her bed, just scrapping survival for now.


	3. The Sucky Outdoors

**Authors note at bottom for explanation for my absence**

* * *

Chris is stood on the dock with his arms open, "Last time on Total Drama Island." he announces.

"The 22 campers faced their first challenge. Jumping off a cliff into shark-infested waters, just for flags."

 _The teens are shown nervously looking downwards towards said shark-infested waters. Clips of Chris showing off the flags and the sharks fins circling the dangerous lake are aired._

"And while most of the campers took the plunge, some were forced to wear the dreaded chicken hat."

 _Farah is shown jumping with Nick immediately behind as well as those scared by falling like Deon and Dianne. Next, Ria is shown ashamed of her cowardice and Velma immediately escaping down the wimp escalator._

"With the Gophers getting advantages in both of the following rounds, they cruised their way to the winners' podium."

 _Jela showing her figure off on the final dive and getting acclaim from her teammates is shown. Clips of Jeffrey leading the Gopher's hot-tub building challenge are aired as well._

"At the Campfire Ceremony, it came down to 2 campers."

 _Moments of some of the Gophers receiving their safety marshmallows and their relieved reactions are aired before showing Ria and Yamazaki staring anxiously at each other._

"Ria helped out her team and Joey through her image issues but refused to jump. Meanwhile, Yamazaki did jump but cost her team the win by turning the hot-tub steps into homemade dice."

 _Highlights of Ria working hard on her hot-tub and consoling Joey with Mayra are shown followed immediately by her fearful reaction of the sharks nearly biting Conor. Yamazaki is then shown jumping after her original dice falling into the lake and annoying Mayra with her lack of helping in pushing the crate. Lastly, the Bass are shown glaring at Yamazaki who breaks down admitting to her unintentional sabotage._

"In the end, the first camper to leave the island, was Yamazaki, showing that the outdoors really isn't for table top players."

 _Yamazaki's ashamed face at being voted off and her boarding of the Boat of Losers is highlighted._

"Who will be voted off next in the most dramatic Campfire Ceremony yet?" Chris asks with his hand pointing up. He then sways it towards the camera and does his usual dramatic shtick. "Find out tonight, right here, on Total! Drama! Island!"

* * *

 _Theme song plays._

* * *

It was a lovely sunny morning over Camp Wawanakwa. A few days had passed since the last challenge and the campers were now settled. Most of the campers were around the campgrounds doing their own thing. However, inside the girls' side of the Bass cabin, Joey was busy applying her make-up with Ria and Mayra waiting on their beds. Mayra eventually jumped off bored.

"What in the name of hogback is taking you so long?" Mayra asked.

Pulling out her mascara, Joey began the final part of her beauty ritual and got to work extending and darkening her eyelashes. "I'll just be a couple more minutes." Joey assured her.

"That's what ya said 5 minutes ago when you were puttin' on ya lipstick. Are we going lassoin' or not?" Mayra questioned.

"I swear I'll be done soon. This is the last thing I need to do. Promise." Joey crossed her heart in the mirror apologetically to which Mayra sighed in acceptance and turned to Ria.

"Fine, meet us by the craft centre when you're done." Mayra resigned "Come on Ria, we'll get you a head start." Ria nodded enthusiastically and followed Mayra out.

* * *

 **~Mayra Confessional~**

"I like Joey but her make-up obsession drives me nuts." Mayra pounds her fist onto the wooden latrine. "It takes that gal at least an hour to get ready. Give me 5 minutes and I'm up fresh as an apple ripe for the pluckin'." Mayra pulls an apple out and eats it. "Takin' too much time in the mornin' and ya burnin' daylight, just like Papi told me."

* * *

As they leave, they hear noises from the guys side. Both girls decide to eavesdrop.

"No, leave me alone dude." A panicked voice got out.

"I'm doing this to help you, you know. Quit being such a drama queen." A stern voice rang out.

"That's rich coming from you." Grunts rang out for a bit before Griff came bursting out and ran towards the communal bathroom before Deon rushed out. "I will not be forced into oppression!" Griff yelled out.

* * *

 **~Griff Confessional~**

"Deon's been trying to 'beautify' me for the past 3 days." Griff looks clearly exasperated. "He says it's to make up for knocking me out but I already forgave him yet the guy can't leave it at that. I'm wearing Tristan's helmet to sleep now so he'll leave my face alone." Griff held up a blue helmet with 2 white streaks running down it.

* * *

"Um, should we be worried?" Ria asked concerned for Griff.

"Nah girl, you can chill. Mr. Macho over there won't let me give him my apology makeover." Deon explained. "I'm so exhausted." Deon sat down on the cabin steps for a breather.

"No more time for rest people. It's challenge time." Chris said excitedly over the loudspeakers. "Make your way over to the campfire pit, pronto."

"Damn it." Joey shouted from inside the cabin. The trio outside went to check on her and saw he mascara brush on the floor and she had only finished one eye.

"You girls go on ahead. We'll meet you there." Deon instructed Mayra and Ria. He then pulled out his own mascara. "Deon's got you covered, baby-doll."

* * *

At the campfire pit, all the contestants had gathered and separated themselves in their teams. Some chose to sit, others stood. They all faced Chris as he walked in front of the firepit. "So, campers, how have you been finding the last 3 days here at Camp Wawanakwa?" Chris asked knowingly.

"It's boring." Rose answered. "They're barely anything to do here."

"Not to mention it's incredibly dirty." Gabriel complained. "Has this place ever been cleaned?"

"Plus, don't get me started on Chef's food, OK. That stuff is revolting. I've had prop food taste better than that stuff." Kali added.

"Well you'll be glad to hear that in this challenge, you'll all be out of camp for the night." Chris said to erupt a few cheers from the players.

"Calm down everyone, what's the catch Chris?" Jeffrey asked suspiciously.

Chris chuckled guiltily. "You got me Jeff." Jeffrey grumbled again. "For this challenge, we'll be testing your outdoor survival skills. I'm not gonna lie, some of you may not come back alive." Chris elicited gasps from some of the campers before holding his hands up and admitted "Just joking." Some relieved sighs escaped the campers.

"Please don't play with my psyche like that." Kevin pleaded.

"Anyway, all you have to do is spend a night in the woods and complete a checklist of survival basics. Some of the things you'll need are at your team's campsite in the forest. You just have to find it." Chris pulled up a backpack and threw maps to Velma and Farah with the latter's subsequently being robbed by Nick. A compass was thrown after, hitting Nick's head and landing into Farah's hands, grinning at the outcome. "Oh, and watch out for bears. Lost a couple of interns in pre-production." Chris warned.

"Please tell us you're joking." Griff uttered hopefully. Chris remained unfazed by his pleas causing him to gulp in fear.

"First team back before breakfast with all their members and a completed checklist wins invincibility." Chris informed them and straight after that, sounded off an air horn. "Well, off you go."

"What are we supposed to do if we run into a bear?" Ria asked fearfully.

"Bears are creatures that only attack if they feel provoked. Stay calm and you'll be fine." Conor stated confidently as he strolled by her. She proceeded to sigh in relief and smile blissfully at Conor.

* * *

 **~Ria Confessional~**

"Conor usually keeps to himself but he was actually concerned for me." Ria gushed. "He cares about me." Ria bobs up and down in excitement.

 **~Conor Confessional~**

Conor sits in lotus position. "I've no idea if that's true about bears. I just want that Ria girl to pull her weight this time. She lacks the discipline needed to confront her fears, so I had to lie in order for her to not drag us down again. It's like my sensei always told me. Do not let an obstacle hinder you again if you can prevent it."

* * *

With the challenge underway, the Gophers had made some headway towards their base camp. Velma and Dianne were leading the pack with the teams' map and compass respectively. The rest were following the campers making small talk amongst themselves.

"According to this map, we should only be a few hundred more paces away from Base Camp." Velma informed those following behind.

"Sweet, the sooner we get there, the sooner I can get more footage." Edward said eagerly.

"When you get there, you're going to help us set up camp right?" Claire warned Edward who fearfully nodded.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the checklist will have plenty for us to. Maybe he can do both." Anton reassured Edward to Claire's annoyance.

* * *

 **~Anton Confessional~**

"I think our team has a lot of potential winners who all bring different skills to the table. However, Claire's bad attitude towards everyone is going to get on everyone's nerves sooner or later. If there's anything I've learnt from prison, it's that bad-mouthing leads to bad times." Anton swipes his hand across his neck.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the back of the pack Jeffrey was walking alongside Kevin and observing his teammates.

* * *

 **~Jeffrey Confessional~**

He leans back with his arms folded. "Now that I've had the opportunity to study my teammates, I believe I have the perfect candidates for allies to help me progress all the way in this game." Jeffrey rubbed his finger on his chin. "I'll have to ensure they stay in the game but I can be very persuasive if it comes to that." He smirked to camera.

* * *

"So, Jeffrey, how do you think this is gonna go?" Kevin asked.

"Personally, I see this being fairly straightforward. If it's just basic camping tasks, I'm sure we have the personnel to complete them with ease." Jeffrey answered confidently.

"You really think so? I wish I had your confidence man. I'm always unsure about this kind of stuff." Kevin whimpered.

Jeffrey put his arm on Kevin's shoulder. "It's merely a case of nerves though those nerves can be amplified when you're on the autistic spectrum." Jeffrey comforted informatively.

"Wait, you know about that?" Kevin responded affirming Jeffrey's beliefs.

"I thought it was obvious. You exhibit a lot of the possible traits for being diagnosed with it. Did you not want me to bring attention to it?" Jeffrey questioned.

Kevin rubbed the back of his head. "It's not that… It's just that… I don't want to be given special treatment or targeted because of it. I'm afraid if people know about it, they'll see me differently."

Jeffrey nodded. "I get where you're coming from. I'll tell you what, I'll keep it secret from the others and I'll even help you with your confidence issues. In exchange, you be my ally for the rest of the game and not vote against me at the Campfire Ceremonies. Does that sound reasonable for you?" Jeffrey bargained

"You'd do that for me?" Kevin asked in disbelief. His doubt dispersed with Jeffrey's reassuring grin. "You've got a deal man." Kevin shook Jeffrey's hand.

"Excellent, though if they find out themselves, there's nothing I can do about that. Oh, and please, call me Prof." Jeffrey requested. Kevin nodded with a smile as the Gophers continued on their trek.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Bass were on the way to their own campsite. Nick was leading with the map and Griff with the compass. Nick was burning a hole through the map from how much he was staring at it.

"It appears our campsite is by a cliff face but I can't see a pathway to it on this map." Nick told the Bass.

"No problem. I'll have a look." Farah said behind him.

"I'm not letting you have this map." Nick stated before turning to where Farah was supposed to be. Instead he looked back to see her rapidly climbing a large tree. He scowled at her efforts.

"Do you see a way to get to the cliffs on your right?" Griff shouted to Farah while peeking at the map.

Farah put her hand above her eyes and peered around the area. She then caught sight of a side trail heading towards their campsite. "There, I see it." She leaped down from branch to branch onto the ground. "Follow me guys." Farah rushed off towards the trail leaving Nick behind.

"Hmph. I could've done that." Nick mumbled before running to catch up with his teammates.

* * *

Back with the Gophers, they were approaching their campsite. Dianne yelled, "Look, up ahead, there's our stuff."

The Gophers raced to see a backpack in the middle of the area with a list attached to it. Kali unpinned it from the backpack as Zveif and Gabriel began unpacking everything. Kali read the note aloud. "Gophers, the tasks you have to complete are as follows. Build a shelter. Make a fire with sticks. Find or hunt your own food. Make a trap or protective measure for your area and document a wild animal. Use the camera provided and bring back proof of your completed tasks."

"Dibs on camera detail." Edward blurted out while grabbing the camera.

"That's fine. The rest of us should divide ourselves into pairs to complete each task. Who wants to do what?" Jeffrey instructed.

"Oh, I am so hunting for food. Mind if I borrow this?" Claire said grabbing one of the tent poles with an outwards joint.

"You are not stabbing an animal with a tent pole!" Anton said horrified.

"Plus, I need that to build our tent." Dianne added to which Claire resigned herself and handed it to Dianne without incident.

"Fine, I'll get a sharp stick or something. So touchy." Claire complained before heading off.

"I'll go with her. There's gotta be something with sugar in it in these woods." Zveif announced chasing after Claire.

"I'd like to elect myself for the documentation task. I expect to find some interesting species of gastropods in this vicinity." Velma keenly shared.

"Oh, me too. I love animals. They're so cool." Kevin chipperly supplied. Both high-fived and started walking off before being forced back.

"Woah, slow down you two. Wait until we're finished setting up then take our camera man with you." Gabriel advised pointing out Edward who was focusing on Jela who was helping Dianne pitch the tent.

"Yeah baby. You own that camera." Edward complimented to Jela who ate up the attention. Everyone else rolled their eyes at the display.

* * *

With the Bass, they had arrived at their own camp as well and Joey was reading off the checklist. "So, we're all agreed on roles now. Just so we're clear me and Deon set up the tent, Rose and Tristan set up the protection, Farah and Mayra hunt for food, Nick will get the fire going and Conor and Ria document the animal. Then you all shout Griff to take the picture of the task when it's finished." Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, let's go grab us some grub partner." Mayra said running off with Farah in tow. Both girls were pumped to complete their assignment.

"Come Ria." Conor said walking off and she followed him entranced.

"Yes, Conor." Ria said dreamily.

In the meantime, Tristan and Rose surveyed their area together and began exchanging thoughts. "'Kay so what I'm thinking is we set up some kinda system where we could drop multiple traps you know. Have those trip wire things to set everything off." Rose shared with Tristan.

"I'm liking your thinking. I'll be sure to set them up so our team don't get in the way." Tristan said impressed. "Did you have anything specific in mind?" He started taking notes down on the notepad he pulled from his overalls using the pencil resting on his ear.

"Oh definitely. See, back home, I protected my ride at school by setting up my own personal security system that would spray whoever touches it with pink paint. It made it a cinch to find the morons who'd dare touch my baby." Rose vigorously told Tristan.

"Nice. I've got something similar for my shop when gypsies try to steal my parts and sell them as scrap metal. I set up my old tools to knock out any intruders that break in. They get the message pretty quickly after that when me or my boss finds them." Tristan laughed at his explanation with Rose joining in quickly.

"You wanna do something similar here?" Rose offered.

Tristan nodded and high-fived her. "Absolutely, let's do it."

* * *

 **~Tristan Confessional~**

"I've gotta say, Rose is pretty awesome. I like a girl who's not afraid to get her hands dirty. Not to mention, she looks pretty hot while doing it." Tristan smiled at the camera.

 **~Rose Confessional~**

"Tristan seems like a cool guy. It's not often you meet someone who has a badass eyepatch and knows all about vehicles. You'd swear he's like one of those guys from a chase movie but in real life." Rose grinned at that thought.

* * *

Back with the Gophers, Edward was roaming around the camp with the camera in hand. "OK, what's up people of the internet, my name is Edward but you may know me as Bent On Gaming on YouTube. I'm coming to you live from Camp Wawanakwa for some special footage of Total Drama Island." Edward pans around the campsite, showing off the trees. "As you can see we're in the middle of setting up our camp for the night as part of today's challenge. We've already had to jump off a cliff so this will be a cakewalk for us today, right guys."

"Why would you say that? Do you want to jinx us?" Kali asked him in disbelief. Edward flinched as he looked back at the camera.

"Er, let's go see what's going on with our hunters." Edward said walking off into the forest. "We're going to find ourselves some delicious berries and some fish to feed ourselves for tonight. We have to record everything we're doing so hopefully we get to see our resident breadwinners in action." Edward kept walking around until he couldn't see anyone and began panicking. "Guys, is anyone around." He hears a hissing like sound and screams at the top of his lungs.

"Will you cease your incessant screaming?!" Velma yelled at him emerging from a bush. Both her and Kevin turn back to a snake that slithers rapidly away from them. "Oh, now look what you've done!" Velma berated him.

"We had him right where we wanted him. Nice one, Edward." Kevin added with similar annoyance.

"Sorry guys, I thought I was alone. I got scared." Edward apologised. Velma and Kevin looked at each other and nodded seemingly in sync.

"Fine, we'll let you off. In exchange, you have to find us our next animal for us." Velma said. "The sheet we got given said that it had to be something nice and big though." She smiled at him as Edward stood quivering at something.

"What's wrong, it shouldn't be that hard?" Kevin assured him at his cowardice. Edward pointed behind them as they slowly turned around gulping at what awaited. They met a growling bear who roared and chased the screaming teens away.

* * *

 **~Kevin Confessional~**

Kevin sat holding his legs in a foetal position. "Bears are so much scarier than books make them out to be."

* * *

Back with Conor and Ria they had finished taking notes on a moose they had found grazing. "That should be enough. We just need to get Griff to take its picture." Conor said.

"Then let's get going." Ria said walking alongside him. They walked in silence with Conor focused onwards and Ria focused on him. She looked back and forth and took a deep breath before grabbing his hand. Conor stopped in his tracks and removed it from her limp grasp.

"What are you doing?" Conor asked.

"I, I just thought that… you know… we could keep each other close… you know… for protection." Ria lied complete with nervously wide smile.

"I don't need you to protect me. I can take care of myself. You however, need to stop being such a coward." Conor bluntly stated.

"OK, that was harsh but there's no need to rush. Can't we at least take them time to admire the sights of nature?" Ria suggested hurt but hopeful.

"No, we've got to get Griff before we lose track of the moose. I don't want our team to lose another challenge due to your lack of focus." Conor explained, disappointing Ria.

"It's not going anywhere. We can afford to take our time and relax a bit." Ria informed him causing him to turn back to her aggravated.

"You can't say that for sure. We can't afford to relax or else we won't emerge victorious." Conor bit back.

"You know what, fine. You can go get Griff, I'm going to look for Mayra and Farah." Ria rushed off exasperated and upset.

"See, now that's taking this challenge seriously. Now maybe we'll win since you aren't trying to hold us back." Conor yelled back to her as she growled in frustration.

* * *

 **~Conor Confessional~**

"Pfft. As if I need to 'chill out'. You stagnate when you aren't working hard and pushing yourself or other people. She's too immature to understand that."

 **~Ria Confessional~**

She's holding her head in her hands. "How am I supposed to get through to him when he's only focused on the challenge? Hopefully, he'll be less stubborn later."

* * *

Ria walked over to Farah and Mayra who were up in a tree waiting patiently with a lasso trap. She called up to them "Hey guys." before instantly being shushed. They pointed towards an approaching deer who was walking towards the trap before stepping in it and being caught by Mayra.

"Woo, yeah, we're eatin good tonight partner." Mayra said before the deer shook itself loose and charged at the girls.

"Look out." Mayra warned before Farah jumped on it to try and wrangle it under control.

"Mayra, can we talk?" Ria asked to Mayra who was preparing to lasso the creature.

"Kinda busy. Can it wait?" Mayra said as she threw the lasso around the deer's antlers. She then got dragged off by it.

"Me and Conor had a fight. I wanted him to spend some time with me on a romantic walk around the forest but he just wanted to get Griff for the challenge." Ria told her as she was fighting against the deer with Farah.

"Well this is a challenge. He wants ta win like the rest of us." Mayra shouted to her as she worked to hold the deer down. The deer eventually broke free as it ran off into the woods.

"You get back here dinner. I'm not finished with you!" Farah yelled towards the deer who blew a raspberry at it before disappearing from sight. Farah crossed her arms and got helped up by Ria and Mayra.

"Yeah but he lashed out at me, saying I hold us back and that I'm a coward." Ria told them starting to tear up.

"Well now, that ain't right. I'm gonna teach that kung fu, dung poo some manners." Mayra said preparing to confront Conor.

"No, please don't. I don't want him to think I need my battles fought for me, He'll just think worse of me. Do you guys have any advice?" Ria questioned.

"Well, you could always show him you're serious about him. Show some interest in his interests. He probably be more than happy to talk about himself." Farah offered.

Ria took that under consideration. "Hmm, that's a good idea. Thanks girls."

* * *

 **~Mayra Confessional~**

"Ria can do better than Conor but who am I to deny what a girl wants. I know what I want and that's some venison. I'll nab me a deer till I'm redder than my papi's steaks."

* * *

Night had fallen at the Gophers campsite, Jela and Dianne had finished building the tent and were shivering. "How much longer? I can't be hotter than hell when I'm freezing." Jela asked.

Kali was rubbing a stick against dry leaves while Gabriel was striking some flints together. They were sweating from trying for so long to strike a fire. "Come on, come on." Gabriel pleaded.

Eventually a small amount of smoke started rising from the leaves. "Yes!" Kali celebrated as she leaned to blow the smoke and make the embers burn brighter. Slowly but surely, the fire rose and was a sight to behold for the cold campers.

"Nice one. Let's get cooking." Claire announced holding up some fish she pierced. Zveif also emerged with berries nestled in his shirt causing the Gophers there to cheer.

"OK, you've done good." Anton admitted as he watched Claire settle the fish over the fire.

"Man, you should have seen her. She went loco at the river, like ahhh," Zveif said exaggerating a stabbing action "and then she was like boom, boom, boom. It was awesome." He then gorged on some berries he was holding as Claire looked away embarrassed at his antics.

* * *

 **~Claire Confessional~**

"Zveif, made me sound like a crazy person. It's not crazy to channel your anger when you're looking to grab fish to eat. They're annoyingly slippery." Claire imitated a grabbing action.

* * *

"Frankly, the sooner we have everything ready, the better. It's getting quite dark." Jeffrey pointed out.

"Yeah. I just want to eat and get some shut-eye as soon as possible. This girl needs her beauty sleep." Jela said yawning.

"Don't worry, I got enough for each of us." Claire informed triggering some worry in Dianne.

"Speaking of which, where are Edward, Kevin and Velma? I haven't seen any of them hours." Dianne asked the team receiving alarming silence.

"There's no need to panic Di. I'm sure they're still out looking for the animal." Kali comforted the anxious girl.

"It shouldn't take this long. Who knows what could've happened to them?" Dianne said panicking. Jeffrey walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders mildly shaking her.

"Relax Dianne, deep breaths come on." Jeffrey exhaled and she joined in soon after calming the girl. "Good, do you feel better now?" She nodded and looked up gratefully at Jeffrey who nodded with a smirk.

"I'm going to look for them." Anton said about to run off before being interrupted.

"Woah, woah calm down Anton. Think about this logically." Jeffrey commanded him upsetting Anton.

"Screw logic, they're missing and god knows what kind of trouble they could be in. I'm going to out to find them." Anton declared.

"What if you get lost too? Don't be stupid. You won't be able to see them at this time." Jeffrey fired back.

"It's not stupid to care Jeffrey. I guess you don't." Anton accused.

"I'm with Jeffrey. We're better off staying together. I don't want anyone else to go missing. We'll just have to hope they come back." Dianne supported, prompting some nods from the Gophers and a small grin from Jeffrey.

"Ugh, fine." Anton resigned and sat down by the fire.

* * *

 **~Dianne Confessional~**

"If there's anything I've learnt throughout my life, it's to trust people and keep up hope. Also, listen to reason and Jeffrey is very reasonable."

 **~Jeffrey Confessional~**

"It appears my team are behind me. Hahaha, excellent."

* * *

As for the missing Gophers, they were camped into the small alcove of a cave by a searching bear who was trying to sniff them out. They waited patiently before it eventually fell asleep. Edward pulled out the camera and turned it on.

"Is this really the time for shots?" Velma pleaded.

"If we die, I want there to be some memory of what happened." Edward whispered terrified before turning to be in the camera frame. "I'm so *bleep* scared right now. I'm trapped behind a 400-tonne bear with 2 of my teammates."

"Actually, most bears weight from around 130kg to about 300kg." Kevin intervened.

"Like I care Kevin. If we can't escape, we're gonna starve to death anyway." Edward bit at Kevin who recoiled as he put the camera back around his neck.

"Not to mention we'll lose the challenge." Kevin added earning glares from both of them. "I'll shut up now."

"Since it's asleep, we need to figure our route of escape." Velma recommended.

"There's a gap over there, where we could fit through. Let's go." Edward pointed it out as Kevin, closest to the exit wormed his way through. He grabbed Velma's arms and pulled her out. They both did the same with Edward but the camera bounced off some rocks.

"No!" Edward horrifyingly whispered as he rushed towards it.

"It's not broken is it." Velma asked concerned. Edward inspected it all over begging for it to work. Soon the screen flashed and showed the cave.

"Yes, it still works. Quickly, get in front of the bear." Kevin and Velma posed as Edward recorded their work on the bear. "Nice, let's go."

* * *

 **~Velma Confessional~**

"Next time I'm researching animals, I'm sticking to a laboratory. You can't get eaten alive in a laboratory… most of the time." Velma rubbed her arm.

* * *

Back at the Bass Campsite, Deon and Joey were inside the tent with Deon doing her hair and gossiping. "So, I'm there with Gina and we're both heading into this dance like aww yeah and we're going to own everything but guess what Tiffany did."

"Girl, she better not have-" Deon sassed.

"Oh, but she did. Ruined my amazing dress and made me look like a baboon's backside." Joey vented.

"I would've totally slapped the teeth outta her. That is so not cool." Deon retorted. Joey was about to respond before hearing something outside the tent.

"Guys, they're finally back." Rose told them. The duo joined the remaining Bass members in welcoming Mayra and Farah back. Both held up a large amount of meat to present to the team.

"Y'all hungry?" Mayra bragged.

"Nice haul guys. We're gonna eat like kings." Griff praised.

"Where'd you get all this?" Nick asked shocked.

"We're just that good." Farah boasted.

* * *

 **~Farah Confessional~**

"We actually found it with a stash in this empty cave but they don't need to know that." She leaned in close to the lens. "It was just laying there so finders keepers. What kind of dumb animal leaves their food unattended?"

* * *

"Nice guys. Let me just get your picture and we'll get cooking." Griff backed away to get them in the frame. As he snapped the picture, it suddenly started raining and put out the fire.

"Goddamn it. Everyone get inside." Tristan ordered holding open the tent door.

* * *

"Crap, why'd it have to start raining now. My makeup is gonna run." Jela said racing to the tent. She was followed suit by most of the Gophers, spare Dianne. Gabriel popped his head out of the tent and saw her waiting under a tree.

"Dianne, get inside or you'll get sick." Gabriel requested her. She stood still.

"I can't sleep until they get back. I'll be fine." Dianne told her.

"Close the door Gabriel, you're letting the rain in." Claire said dragging him away and zipping the tent up. Dianne looked at them then back to the forest, worry etched all over her face before her eyes drifted close.

* * *

 **~Dianne Confessional~**

She's wrapped in a blanket. "I don't know how I feel asleep in that weather but I'd do it all over again to make sure my team is safe. If it weren't for one of my teammates, I'd probably have got hypothermia." She snuggled up more in the blanket.

* * *

With the Bass, they were huddling for warmth inside their own tent and had their tent catch on fire by a stray lightning bolt.

"Well this is just fantastic." Deon sarcastically said. "Anything else, you want to throw at us world?" He shouted to the heavens. His 'prayers' were answered when an angry snort was heard by a furious herd of deer.

"Oh, come on." Griff yelled out.

"They look mighty ticked off." Mayra said before noticing one deer lift its leg up to its neck, simulating a slicing sound towards her and Farah.

"What do we do?" Ria asked frightened for her life.

"Quickly, set off our trap." Rose demanded. Tristan understood but no one else did.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Nick yelled back.

"Just do it. Trust me." Rose shouted as she dragged him along with the others behind her. The herd of deer charged after them. Upon arrival, Tristan cut a rope holding up a giant log cage that fell over them, containing them inside. The deer charged up against the log hoping to break it down.

"They're gonna break through." Joey shrieked.

"They shouldn't, I reinforced it. Get comfortable guys, this is where we're sleeping tonight." Tristan told them.

"How it's so cramped in here?" Nick complained feeling Griff's elbow dig into his side.

"You'll have to find a way. It wasn't designed for us, remember." Rose responded. They all shuffled around until everyone was asleep.

* * *

Back with the Gophers, while everyone slept Velma, Kevin and Edward, drained from their journey back approached the campsite, drenched in rain. Edward limply took pictures of everything for the checklist quickly from a distance before the group fell into a pit-trap of Anton and Jeffrey's creation. They groaned and climbed out, covered in mud and natures debris.

Their groaning woke up Dianne who rubbed her eyes and caught the silhouettes of the three. She recoiled in fright as another lightning strike happened, lighting up the area and showing the muddy and exhausted trio, scaring Dianne to scream like a banshee.

"Help!" Dianne cried out, causing Anton to rush out and strike all 3 of them in the stomach with a large branch.

"Wait, it's us." Kevin wheezed out as Anton held off his next attack. Velma grabbed the blanket from Dianne and crawled over to wipe the dirt off their faces.

"Where in the hell did you guys go?" Jeffrey asked.

"Long story short. Photographing animals, bear comes along, get chased to cave, escape and get back here wet and tired." Edward summarised short of breath. "On the bright side, I've kept the camera safe." He held the device up from around his neck.

"Nice one, we'll keep it dry." Gabriel said taking it off him and putting it in the tent.

"Right everyone, back inside." Jeffrey said to everyone who did as told. Dianne and joined them before Claire zipped the tent up on the drenched trio.

"You guys can sleep under the tree. Nothing personal, just don't want our floor wet." Claire informed them before chucking them the dirty blanket. "You can have that at least to keep you warm." The three looked amongst themselves and resigned themselves to the wooden shelter.

* * *

The next day at the Bass Campsite, Rose, Tristan, Deon and Farah lifted up the trap to see the deer had dispersed. "Daybreak guys, we've gotta get moving if we're gonna win."

All the team slowly woke up, Ria woke up to see herself holding onto Conor who arose himself to see the sight of her clinging to him. "Sorry, sorry, sorry." Ria blushed like a tomato and apologised profusely before Conor held her lips shut.

"Save it. Let's get back." Conor ran towards the campsite with the Bass all rushing back.

* * *

"Come on guys. Let's get going. We've gotta get back." Anton shouted to everyone who groggily got up.

"Ugh, I've definitely not had enough beauty sleep." Jela grumbled despite still looking amazing.

"You can catch up when we get back. Let's go." Jeffrey said as everyone began racing back to camp.

* * *

Back at camp, Chris was waiting with Chef bored on a bench. "Do you think they got eaten?" Chris asked Chef who shrugged his shoulders.

"There it is." Shouted a female voice.

"Finally!" Chris said exasperated and got up to see the Screaming Gophers emerge. "Congratulations on getting back first Gophers. Hand me your camera so I can check your photos."

Gabriel handed the photos over and the Gophers celebrated. Soon after, emerged the Bass who caught sight of the Gophers and looked demoralised. "We lost?" Joey enquired.

"Not again, why can't we win!" Nick shouted furiously at his teammates.

"Actually, you might still win. Half of these photos are blurry, Gophers." Chris turned the pictures to show them and it was true. Save for the bear photo, the rest were unrecognisable and the team turned to Edward, Velma and Kevin who retreated into themselves.

"Here, here, take a look. Ours are good." Griff said excitedly who handed his photos to Chris who looked them over.

"That they are, you've proven you've done everything so todays winners are the Killer Bass." They all cheered while the Screaming Gophers groaned and voiced their sadness. "Bass, your reward for winning todays challenge is a hunters meal of different meats and berry based deserts, specially prepared."

"Thank God, we're starving." Farah said holding her growling stomach.

"Gophers, I'll see your muddy butts at the elimination ceremony tonight for your first loss of the season. Choose wisely." Chris grinned at the eight campers looking at Kevin, Velma and Edward.

* * *

Before the ceremony commenced, Ria looked over at Conor who was eating some hunters chicken. She turned to Mayra who motivated her to go for it. Ria took a breath and walked over to sit beside Conor.

"Hey Conor. I'd like to say sorry for being a nuisance yesterday. I should've focused on the challenge but I was so desperate to be friends with you that I messed up my priorities. I'm sorry." Ria truthfully apologised.

Conor rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "I forgive you. I was a bit out of line myself and I'm sorry too. Why do you want to be friends with me so bad?"

"Well… see… it's… that's…" Ria struggled to get out briefly looking to Mayra who gestured to her to get it out. "because I'm a huge martial arts fan and I think you could teach me a lot, I don't already know and make me better." Mayra face slapped at Ria's diversion.

"Well, I'd be happy to teach you as long as you listen to everything I tell you. No backing out or complaining." Conor offered his hand out.

Ria shook it and beamed "Yeah, you've got it." She went back to sit with Mayra who gave her thumbs up.

"Nice save partner." Mayra complimented.

* * *

 **~Ria Confessional~**

"So what if it didn't go as planned. I now get some one-on-one time with Conor. That's a win in my book."

* * *

At the bonfire ceremony, the Gophers watched Chris walk to the podium.

He addressed the team. "Gophers, these marshmallows represent your safety in this competition and the chance to stay and win big money. You've all cast your votes and made your decisions. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately head to the Dock of Shame, to catch the Boat of Losers. And you can't come back, ever!" Chris informed them causing some to become more nervous. "When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow."

"Kali." The theatre buffed squealed and got up.

"Zveif." The boy rushed and devoured his marshmallow.

"Dianne." She smiled.

"Jela." The girl nodded and got up.

"Anton." He walked over.

"Jeffrey." He smirked.

"Claire." She laughed knowingly.

"Gabriel." The boy breathed a sigh of relief.

"There are only 3 marshmallows remaining." The remaining three looked anxiously amongst each other. "The next marshmallow goes to… Velma."

The nerdette exhaled and claimed her prize. The final two boys shared scared looks between them. "This is the final marshmallow of the evening. And it goes to…" Chris picked up the marshmallow and built the tension as he waved it in front of both of them. The two gripped their stumps strong as they waited for Chris to announce who was safe.

"Kevin." The autistic boy beamed as he ran to hug Chris who immediately pushed him away and pass him his marshmallow.

"Edward, you're done." Chris told him as he pointed him towards the dock. Edward did as instructed with some of his team waved him goodbye. He hopped on the boat.

"It hurts to go this early but I deserve it. A good YouTuber should always check his camera is working. I screwed up but I hope you'll still subscribe to my channel. I'll try to update you all as soon as I can."

* * *

Back at the Campgrounds, Dianne was sitting on the steps to the cabins before Jeffrey approached her. "What's wrong Dianne?"

"It's just hit me that we're going to lose our team members and that means our friends. How can I live with myself if I have to vote off a friend?" Dianne vented while upset at the thought.

"Unfortunately, it's all part of the game. We'll have to make the hard decisions eventually but that doesn't mean we can't be nice to each other until then." Jeffrey told her.

"Yeah, I guess. It's still hard though." She shivered before Jeffrey got up and placed a blanket around her. "Thanks. You didn't need to do this."

"It's fine, feels like habit at this point. Good night." Jeffrey hinted before heading to bed. Dianne, spaced out as she processed his words and then held the blanket tighter smiling.

* * *

 **~Jeffrey Confessional~**

"Dianne seems like a nice girl. Very caring and considerate. She'll make an excellent ally for the game. Feed her some kindness and she'll be like putty in my hands, offering to help me and defend me at every opportunity. With her and Kevin already under my heel, I'll play the rest of these fools like a violin." Jeffrey mocked them by mimicking playing a violin before bursting into evil chuckles.

* * *

"There we have it. Both teams have now lost a member and Edward has bit the competition. Who will be next to fall? Will Conor discover Ria's crush? How will Kevin and Velma recover from their bear experience? Tune it next time to another thrilling episode of TOTAL! DRAMA! ISLAND!" Chris signed off for the day.

* * *

 **I feel it's only fair to let you guys know where I've been/what I've been up to. Well, I'm back at university for my 2nd year. I expected to still have a lot of time to still do this story but opportunities have been coming at me left and right. See, I want to work in film and I've been given the opportunity to write a feature length screenplay with the real possibility of being sold if it's good enough as well as a theatre script that could also be put on if chosen. That with everything I have to do with my course means little free time. Please continue to be patient with me.**


	4. Who Can You Trust?

Chris is stood on the dock with his arms open, "Last time on Total Drama Island." he announces.

"Campers had their survival skills put to the test when they spent the entire night camping in the woods."

 _Clips of Kali and Gabriel trying to light fire for the Gophers and Joey and Deon setting up the Bass tent._

"Conor and Ria strained their relationship when he called her out for laziness and cowardice, which she did not take well." Chris chuckles at her misery.

 _Clips of Conor flipping his lid at Ria are shown along with her telling her sorrows to Mayra and Farah._

"Kevin, Velma and Edward got freaked out by an angry bear without it's dinner and Mayra and Farah managed to tick off a whole herd of vengeful deer."

 _The Gopher trio being freaked out and chased by the bear are shown and clips of Mayra lassoing a deer that later gestures menacingly towards her._

"Things weren't much better before as it started raining when both teams tried to cook their food."

 _Jela rushing to the tent in fear is shown along with Griff getting soaked trying to take pictures with the camera._

"Dianne became ill and was freaked out by her teammates and the Bass spent their night inside of Rose and Tristan's trap. Basically, it was a tough night's sleep."

 _Dianne screaming in fear at the muddy trio of Kevin, Velma and Edward and Rose setting off the trap to protect the Bass from the deer airs._

"Ultimately, the Gophers experienced their first time on the chopping block with Edward being the first Gopher without a marshmallow."

 _Chris showing the Gophers their blurry photos and Edward's shocked face at being eliminated are highlighted._

"It was a rough challenge and if I have my way, things will get even rougher. Luckily, I will." Chris smirks at the camera. "What horrors have we planned for our pair of teams? Find out right here on TOTAL! DRAMA! ISLAND!" Chris yells out with his usual arm and volume raising.

* * *

 _Theme song and opening intro plays_

* * *

Starting in the forest we see Conor and Ria doing training in a clearing. Conor is fully garbed in his gi while Ria is in her pajamas watching his kata demonstration. Conor is performing a basic kata called 'Heian Shodan' with a raw intensity that Ria is gushing over.

* * *

 **~Ria Confessional~**

"Getting this tutor time with Conor has been amazing so far. He's such a passionate teacher." Ria blushes as she puts her hands over her cheeks.

* * *

"Alright, now I want you to perform the first sequence to the best of your ability." Conor instructed her as she snapped out of her lovestruck stupor and got in her starting stance. She performs her blocks to near perfection and punches with an unexpected vigour, putting powerful emotion into every cry she yells with her movements. Once she finishes her kata, she bows to an impressed Conor.

"So, how was that?" Ria asked anxiously.

"Very well done. Just a minor note on your sweeping block." Conor gets in the correct position to perform said move. "Be sure to bring your arm over a bit more, like this." Conor sweeps his arm across and finishes it well to the left of his body.

"You mean like this?" Ria performs it again but does it at a bit slower pace and slightly off from where Conor finished.

"Nearly, here let me show you." Conor goes over and grabs her arm from behind her while she's in her stance. "Over, like before and finish about here." Conor said nonchalantly, while moving her arm. "Do you understand?"

"Yes." Ria blurts out immediately with Conor close to her face and body, trying her hardest not to squeal in delight.

"Excellent. And again." Conor said while Ria performed the move with a determined look on her face.

* * *

 **~Conor Confessional~**

"I must admit, I was not expecting too much out of her when we made this arrangement but she's proving to be a natural at karate and a pleasure to teach. It's been quite the nice surprise."

 **~Ria Confessional~**

Ria is just squealing in pure happiness at the prior close contact from Conor.

* * *

At the Gopher Cabin, Jela was sleeping peacefully in her bed with some of the girls dreaming away too in their own slumbers. Soon her face started scrunching in discomfort as she groaned in annoyance and shuffled under her covers. Eventually, forcing herself to wake up, she removed her covers to find stick insects crawling on her pyjamas. Naturally, waking up to the horrific sight caused Jela to scream in a way that would put banshees to shame. The high-pitched noise jolted the rest of the campers awake.

"My ears. Ow!" Kali complained as she fiddled with her possible deaf ear hoping to hear again.

"What's wrong Jela?" Dianne asked groggily.

"There's bugs all over my bed. Get them away from me!" Jela yelled as she shook herself around hoping to get rid of the creepy-crawlies. As soon as she accomplished that goal, laughter erupted from the doorway and there was Claire, roaring with enjoyment at the sight of a frightened Jela.

"Oh my God. Ha ha ha. That was great. Thanks for the bugs Velma." Claire continued laughing away as she walked away to the mess hall. Velma, just processing what Claire said, jumped off her top bunk and ran to her drawer full of jars. Seeing one missing, she immediately set her sights on Jela.

"Where's my precious Phasmid?" Velma demanded. Causing weirded out looks between the remaining girls. "None of you wish to admit your guilt. I'll find the culprit if it's the last thing I do."

"Gross, I got bug guts on my shoe." A male voice said from outside. Velma's face dropped as she ran outside to see Zveif scraping his shoe against the stairs, with the remains of the stick insect sticking to the edge.

"You monster!" Velma shouted at him pushing him down the stairs.

"Ow, hey what gives?" Zveif looked up to a furious Velma shooting him a deadly look as he scurried away in fear. Jela went over to the scene and just looked at the camera unimpressed.

* * *

 **~Jela Confessional~**

"A woman this voluptuous" she said showing off her curves "should not be living with freaks like Claire and Velma. They're psycho. I think I'll have one of the boys be my bodyguard from now on. Just a question of who will be easiest to work my magic on." Jela said smirking.

 **~Zveif Confessional~**

"So, there I was about to help the beautiful Jela and be the hero after hearing her scream, then Velma shoves me down the stairs. Way to blow my shot, erm… four eyes." Zveif pulled out a bag of sweets and began comfort eating his troubles away. "I'm not good at insults OK."

 **~Velma Confessional~**

"Horace, had so much to live for. Rest in Peace my magnificent creature." She mourned as she scraped some bug parts into a tiny box with a cross on it.

* * *

In the communal washroom, Farah was getting herself ready brushing her teeth. Suddenly, a freshly washed Nick stepped out of the shower and caught sight of her brushing her teeth. Squinting suspiciously at her, she spat out the toothpaste foam before catching sight of the squinting Nick.

"Oh, hey Nick. Didn't know you were here." She said passively, sparking off the fire burning within Nick.

"Oh, I'll bet you didn't. You just happen to, 'conveniently' be ahead of me in hygiene preparations. I see your game, girl." Nick implied with the complimentary accusing pointer finger to her head.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Farah said, sounding done with these antics.

"I'm not having you one up me again. Watch as I get ready before you." Nick said as he rapidly began his bathroom routine and completed it with quick efficiency. Farah watched the charade with complete indifference. As soon as he was done, he looked at the finished product in the mirror.

"Face of a winner." He bragged, admiring his reflection. Farah rolled her eyes at the display, prompting a growl from Nick. He walked past her knocking her bathroom stuff to the floor before exiting and accidently slamming the door into an entering Griff.

"Watch it jerk." Farah said as she closed the door on him, with Griff falling on to the floor after being released from his crushing prison.

* * *

 **~Farah Confessional~**

"I don't know why Nick has it out for me. Frankly, I don't care either. He's acting like a total Richard and it needs to stop."

 **~Griff Confessional~**

"Why does this crap keeping happening to me?" Griff said holding up his shirt, revealing the mark of a door handle imprinted red on his stomach.

* * *

Chris was in the forest with beams of light shining around him. It was a peaceful atmosphere with rabbits hopping behind him and birds chirping away. "Hi, Chris here. Sometimes teams just don't get along." Chris addressed the viewing audience with a faux caring tone. "So the producers and I thought the best way for them to work through the group friction would be…" Chris posed ready to unleash his wonderful idea. "To exploit it for laughs. This is gonna be awesome." Chris rubbed his hands in eager anticipation.

* * *

All the campers were now gathered at the end of the dock split into their respective teams. Chris stood in front of them ready for his hosting duties. "Last week's challenge exposed some distrust between some team members for both teams." Kevin and Velma looked around nervously as did Conor and Ria sharing apologetic glances with each other. "Not to mention there seems to be something floating outside the competition too." Jela glared at Claire who chuckled at her and Nick did the same with Farah who pushed him away from her. Regaining his footing they all turned back to Chris.

"This week's challenge is about building trust, as all good things begin with a little trust." Chris stated matter-of-factly to the teens.

* * *

 **~Anton Confessional~**

"Trust is one of those things I've learnt to trust my gut instinct on. For example, in my team people like Kali and Kevin you can easily tell are trustworthy. Those like Jeffrey and Claire, you should get that uneasy feeling in your stomach like when your drink punch from the toilet."

* * *

"There will be 3 major challenges that will have to be completed by two members of your team." A couple campers shared look between them that ranged from joy to dread. "Normally, the campers would choose their partners but not this time. More fun for me." Chris said eagerly making all campers agree on having looks of dread.

We cut to the teams in front of a giant cliff face. "For your first challenge, one of you will be free-hand climbing up the side of this cliff on a fun adventure, while your partner supports you with the harnesses. Once you get up there, you must take the harnesses off and trust fall off the edge and hope that your partner catches you. If not, you can try again if your back still works."

"What do you mean by trust fall?" Gabriel asked warily.

"It means fall backwards without looking behind you." Chris explained with a slightly sadistic grin. Gabriel gulped at that. "Don't worry, legal says we have to give you some kind of cushioning for falling, so the non-climber gets to wear these sumo suits during this challenge." Chris shows the suits that Chef wheels in that come with complementary team belts and noticeable stink fumes emanating from the costume.

"You mean they're gonna fall on one of us?" Kali questioned in disbelief.

"Fun huh. OK, so we'll have Dianne and Kevin from the Gophers and Farah and Nick from the Bass."

"Why me?" Both Farah and Nick groaned while Kevin and Dianne nodded to each other.

"Come and collect your equipment." Chris sang to them.

"I've never been climbing before. Do you mind if I go?" Dianne asked Kevin.

"Of course not. I didn't want to climb anyway." Kevin said before looking at the gross sumo suit and realising the consequence for his choice. He sighed while Dianne squeaked with excitement.

"With my medals from 5th grade for scaling the climbing wall at Halifax Climbing Centre, I'm clearly the superior choice for scaling the cliff." Nick bragged before feeling the sumo suit be forced on him by Farah who had already got the harness and belay equipped on her.

"Yeah… no. Did you already forget I found camp in the last challenge by scaling a giant tree?" Farah reminded the boy who was struggling with the stench of the sumo suit.

* * *

Both competitors were making their way up the side of the mountain with Farah slightly ahead of Dianne. The rest of the teams both watched on with Nick and Kevin sweating away in their sumo suits.

"Go Farah. You're killing it." Joey shouted from the side-lines.

"Come on Dianne. You can beat her." Anton cheered.

"Thanks guys. I can do-". Her appreciation was interrupted by her hand suddenly flaring in pain. "Owww aaahhhhh" Dianne fell off the side of the mountain before being stopped by Kevin's management of the rope.

"Don't worry. I've got you." Kevin called to her.

"Thanks guy." She looked at her hand and saw a rusty nail sticking out of it. "Why are their rusty nails on the mountain?" Dianne asked wincing as she removed the hazard from her skin.

"Oh, did I neglect to mention there are a few surprises for you both on the side of the mountain. Can't make it too easy for you." Chris warned the girls intentionally late.

Dianne got back to climbing looking up at Farah who was way ahead of her. That lead was reduced however when a mild explosive went off near Farah who caught a fair amount of the blast. Groaning in pain she uttered "Ugh, this bites."

"Quit your complaining and get a move on lazy butt." Nick ordered her, prompting a growl from Farah who tried to regain her footing.

* * *

 **~Farah Confessional~**

"Seriously, Nick is starting to get on my nerves. You try getting exploded and not get shook off a mountain." Farah vented with her arms crossed.

* * *

Later, both girls had made a good amount of progress up the mountain with Farah still leading. Both boys were sweating buckets in their costumes, but the end was in sight. Farah reached up to the top ledge but found herself struggling to retain a grip on the top.

"What in the world?" Farah mumbled to herself as she couldn't grasp properly as she slipped down the mountain.

"Why are going down the mountain you buffoon?" Nick yelled at her.

"There's an oil slick at the top of mountain. I can't get a good grip." She shouted to him, trying to keep her composure as she tried to figure out a solution to this issue.

Meanwhile, Dianne had made it to the top herself but was struggling as well. As she slipped down the mountain, she saw one of the explosives Chris had planted and her face brightened at the thought of a crazy idea.

* * *

 **~Dianne Confessional~**

"I've never really done anything super dangerous before, but I've been in situations where you do what you can because you've got nothing to lose. This was more of a physically life-threatening spin, sort of, on what I'm used to with that but hey. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right." Dianne justified.

* * *

Dianne kicked the small timer on the explosive and within a couple seconds the explosive went off and sent Dianne flying up to the peak of the mountain. Though her landing was less than pleasant she had made it up to the top first.

"Nice one Di. I'll get ready to catch you." Kevin shouted as Dianne gave him a thumbs-up and began to change out of her climbing gear.

"Clearly, this part of the challenge is too easy. Let's spice things up a bit. Oh Kevin." Chris called innocently to Kevin who turned to him. From out of nowhere, Chris pulled out a large water gun and sprayed a red liquid into Kevin's face. Kevin began writhing in pain as he rolled around in his sumo suit. "Habanero pepper sauce. Muy Caliente." He then turned to Nick who looked a bit spooked by Chris' toothy smile.

"Ah. Leave me be you imbecile." Nick said as he dodged the blasts from gun. This caught the attention of Farah, who was greased more than fast food frying basket. Wiping her hands on the grass and picking up a rock she chucked said rock in the direction of where Chris was chasing after Nick. Unfortunately, or fortunately to Farah, it hit Nick, rendering him unconscious.

"That'll work." Farah cheekily remarked. She began climbing out of her gear as she watched Dianne plummet of the side of the mountain. The Gopher was on target to make it before Kevin, still suffering from the hot sauce rolled away from her unintentionally. Farah winced as she saw the poor girl make a Dianne sized crater at the foot of the mountain.

"Medic." Chris called out prompting Chef, in a visually disturbing nurses outfit to collect the damaged girl.

"Here goes nothing." Farah gulped as she leaned backwards off the mountain for her trust fall. Having her fingers crossed as she fell to her doom she kept quiet throughout her fall. During this Nick rose from his mini-coma.

"Ugh. What happened to me?" His question would be unanswered as he was back to the land of darkness with Farah landing on the irritable teen for the victory.

"Looks like the Bass take Round One." Chris announced, earning rapturous applause from the Bass while the Gophers looked on at Dianne being stretchered away from the action.

* * *

The setting shifts to the cafeteria, with spotlight shining on the next 2 pairs. On the left, the Bass team of Mayra and Tristan. To the right, the Gopher team of Velma and Zveif; Both teams had determined expressions as some intern front flipped onto the podium between the pairs. For some reason, Chris popped up from behind the podium with a conceited smile to the camera. "And now for Round Two. The Extreme. Cooking. Challenge." Chris bellowed out while both pairs watched the completely different looking stunt double crawl away off-screen. "Since the girls got the more dangerous task last time, dudes are going to be the eaters of this challenge."

"Yeehaw. That's fine with me. I can whip you up some viddles that'd make the devil an angel again." Mayra boasted which gained a relieved smile from Tristan.

"I you're right for Tristan's sake because today you'll Fugu Sashimi. The Japanese poisonous blowfish." Chris informed them as Chef wheeled in the toxic creatures for the contestants to see. Zveif's face suddenly dropped as he caught sight of Velma's excited reaction.

* * *

 **~Zveif Confessional~**

"I know she's ticked off with me, but she wouldn't actually try to kill me over a bug. Right?" Zveif pleaded as his eyes shrunk in fear at the possibility of death.

* * *

A diagram of the fugu's body projected onto a canvas beside Chris. "The fugu blowfish contains enough lethal toxin to kill 30 people." Chris added to further scare the boys about to risk their lives. They watched Chef tap against the glass of the fishes' tank to make them expand to full size before fishing them out by their tails.

"Fishies, meet your maker." Chef screamed menacingly as he threw both fish onto the respective teams chopping boards.

"They must be sliced very carefully to cut around the poisonous organs." Zveif gulped as Velma studied the fish in admiration. "The poison paralyzes the nerves and there is no known antidote. So, no worries." Chris reassured despite the previous warnings completely contradicting that statement.

"Are you sure you can make sashimi? I really don't want to die yet." Tristan asked Mayra who looked extremely unsure at the fish.

"I've had to prep the meat from cows back at the ranch. This shouldn't be too different right." Mayra said with faux belief, but it seemed to be enough for Tristan who exhaled dramatically. Ironically, the fish lost all of its air too as Mayra poked at it with her knife, causing the fish to deflate into a puddle like state onto the chopping board. They both gulped as Mayra took a deep breath before going for it.

* * *

Time elapsed as both girls finished their respective fish dishes. Velma had sliced the meat into cubes with toothpicks in them. Mayra's dish meanwhile had a sloppy resemblance to sashimi but was prepared nearly as visually impressive as Velma's serving. Both boys stared at their respective dishes and then each other. Zveif's face clearly displayed more nervousness than Tristan's but Tristan's eye was bulging as he stuck his knife and fork into the sashimi. Cutting off a chunky piece he stared it down until he took a breath and scarfed the whole piece down after a few bites. Everyone in the room watched in anticipation as they waited for any sign of the toxin acting in his body. After a few seconds of nothing, Mayra and Tristan beamed at the results.

"Alright partner. We did it." Mayra lightly tapped the sitting Tristan in the chest, causing him to fall over? Turns out he did get paralyzed after all. Spazzing out on the fallen chair, he began to leak disgusting fluids from out of his mouth as everyone surrounded the poor guy, watching in sympathetic disgust.

"Huh. Better hope you don't end up like him Zveif. Your turn now while Chef deals with Tristan." Zveif's pupils shrank massively at the news.

"Uh, uh. No way man. I'm not ready to die yet. I haven't even tried an authentic Belgian waffle yet." Zveif protested as he tried to escape, only to be blocked by Chef's intimidating frame.

"Sorry Zveif. We can't move on until you get chowing." Chris informed him. Resigned to his fate, he sat back by Velma's fish cubes and grabbed the smallest one he could. Despite his heavily shaking hand, he forced the food into his mouth as everyone looked on waiting. Velma's face soon showed a smirk as Zveif retreated into an armadillo position, waiting for the toxins to take him out as well. However, the time never came and as soon as he realised this, he jumped out of his chair and hugged Velma in a tight grip.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Zveif spouted in grateful cries.

"It's fine. Simple biology. Killing you is not just vengeance. Now stop crushing my ribcage." Velma told him struggling to breathe. He released and set her down on the dining bench as she gasped for air. Mayra joined them as she guiltily watches Tristan get wheeled away by Chef and wince as he drops him from the gurney.

* * *

Soon everyone had collected back together at the beach, minus the casualties of Dianne and Tristan and stood waiting by Chris for the next challenge. "Campers, I have good news for you all. You'll all get to compete in the third challenge."

"I thought you said we'd be competing as pairs." Kali asked confused.

"You still are because the third round involves 3 more challenges. We've dubbed them, the 3 blind challenges. It begins with the explosive blind minefield maze, followed by blind trapeze and culminating with the treacherous blind toboggan race." Chris addressed everyone present who waited anxiously for what was to come.

"Oh great. Restrict these idiots even more by blinding them. What a great idea Chris?" Nick vented sarcastically earning a few displeased looks from the Bass.

"Yeah, I'm good." Chris admired himself before he threw maps to Deon and Kali. "Deon and Griff will compete for the Bass while Kali and Gabriel compete for the Gophers. Those maps show the maze you'll be going through. Except the walls on that map are mines that we've placed under the sand." Chris directed everyone's attention to said area. "The person in the maze will be blindfolded. They'll have to rely on their partner who will be reading the map from these guard towers. The first person to escape the maze at the other side wins this round. So, who's going?"

"There is no way I'm going to let my designer boots get scuffed by an explosive. You're doing it." Deon demanded Griff who didn't look best pleased.

"What? No way dude. I'm not risking my life walking through a minefield. Besides, I can read floor plans. You have to know these things when you're going to be the next Spielberg." Griff 'modestly' said.

* * *

 **~Griff Confessional~**

"I have all these ideas for films that'll make millions in the future. Check it." Griff pulls out a notepad from his back pocket. It's a mess of scrawls and poor handwriting. "A spaceman tries to rob this alien bank and has to avoid the space cops to get back to Earth and make millions from alien artefacts. If that isn't your thing, I've got at least 20 pages for romantic-comedy plots."

* * *

"If you go through the maze, I'll stop testing makeovers on you." Deon offered, to which Griff immediately start tying the blindfold over his eyes to Deon's amusement.

"Let's do this!" Griff said motivated as Deon leads him to the starting line to join Gabriel. Once Kali and Deon got on their towers Chris stood with an airhorn at the ready.

"Alright teams. Go!" Chris shouted as the air-horn sounded loudly. Kali and Deon began reading their maps as Gabriel and Griff took their first steps into the maze.

"Alright Gabe. Two paces forward then head three paces right." Kali said. Gabriel did as told and kept walking, praying that he stayed unharmed.

"Griff, keep walking make a left and then take the first right down that path. Deon instructed.

"When's the first right dude? Did you forget I can't see anything?" Griff retorted sassily.

"Well so-rry. No need to go full diva on me." Deon 'apologised'. "Just keep walking and turn… now." Griff did so and kept making moves forward.

"OK Gabe. Keep walking and now take two paces to your left." Kali told him, and Gabe complied. "Alright now stop and make another left turn." Kali ran over the map route with her finger as Gabe did as told.

* * *

 **~Kali Confessional~**

"Positioning is so important when it comes to the stage. You've gotta know where to be at all times in order to properly draw the audience into your performance and tell the story. If you're in the wrong place, the show bombs. The same applies here just a lot more literally."

* * *

"How much further now Kali?" Gabriel asked praying for the climax of the challenge.

"Just a couple more turns and you should be there." Kali responded to Gabriel's delight.

"Did you here that man? Pick up the pace, we're falling behind." Griff ordered Deon who looked back at him exasperated.

"Don't you think I'm trying. I've never read a map before." Deon revealed to Griff's utter frustration.

"Are you kidding me, dude?" Griff yelled at him.

* * *

 **~Deon Confessional~**

"You couldn't pay me to walk through a minefield. One wrong step and my modelling career is over." Deon's hands highlighted his toned figure. "Plus, do you know how hard it is to get gunpowder burns and stains out of polyester? It's super hard, trust." Deon nonchalantly added looking at his manicured nails.

* * *

"It's not my fault that GPS's are more convenient than reading paper to get somewhere." Deon fired back at Griff who sighed in annoyance.

"Forget this. I'm winging it." Griff turned away from where he could he Deon's voice and took a step forward. As soon as he did, he regretted it. A landmine triggered beneath him and Griff summed up his situation perfectly. "Oh, for f-.". The explosion sent the poor guy hurdling off into the air towards one of the towers.

"Alright Gabe, now just walk forward and you'll be out." Kali told him prompting a cheer from Gabe who bucked it to the exit. A terrified scream suddenly faded into Kali's range and she turned to see Griff flying into her direction. Just as she was about to scream, the footage suddenly paused.

Chris laughed as he commentated over the footage. "This is what I like to call, the 'deer moment'. Kali's face fully captures what it's like when a human looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Note the shrunken irises and the jaw coming almost unhinged like a snake. It's not very often I get to see a moment of pure terror like this so I'm going to savour it." Chris laughed mockingly at the image before catching his breath again. "Alright, back to the show."

* * *

The scene cut to both Griff and Kali being wheeled off by interns to join the other casualties in the E.R. "Well, it may have cost the team member who didn't put themselves in danger, but the Gophers now lead 2-1. If you'll follow me to your next challenge." Chris told them as they moved on.

All the remaining campers joined Chris in the woods as they approached a wooden frame with a trapeze set up in the middle over a shallow pool of water. "Campers, your next challenge is a much simpler task. One of you will be the trapeze artist, swinging back and forth on the swing you see before you. You have to tell the jumper when to jump down from the platform so you can catch them and get them to the other side."

"I'm guessing the jumper is blindfolded." Rose finished the explanation dreading the expected response.

"Correct-a-mundo. Plus, you want to be caught to you'll feel sting when you fall in this pool of tangy jellyfish." Chris answered with delight juxtaposing the classic groans of the campers.

"You love tormenting us, don't you?" Rose asked rhetorically.

Chris answered anyway. "That I do. There's something about your complaining that gives me a warm feeling inside."

"Gross." Anton added.

"Anyway, Ria and Conor will represent the Bass. Jela and Claire, you'll play for the Gophers." The Bass pair shared a happy glance between them while Jela and Claire scowled at each other.

* * *

 **~Jela Confessional~**

"If that edgy wannabe rebel thinks that she can get away with putting bugs in my bed, she thought wrong. Time for a little payback." Jela clenched her fist ready.

* * *

"Chris, can I p-leaseeee be on the trapeze for this challenge?" Jela said in her smoothest voice. "I'd think a smart and handsome host such as yourself would understand that I can't risk damaging my looks." She clings to his arm as Chris looks down to her weirded out.

"She's so hot." Zveif shouted from the sidelines. Jela smiled at that, as the cogs began turning in her head.

"I don't care what you think Zveif. Besides," Chris pushes Jela away from him "as long as someone gets hurt in the end, I don't care who does what." Chris smirked as Jela grinned menacingly at Claire who crossed her arms in disgust.

* * *

 **~Claire Confessional~**

"Geez, one prank and suddenly she gets all vengeful. Not my fault she can't take a joke."

* * *

Jela swung back and forth on the trapeze as Claire stood on the platform ready to jump. "If you drop me, I'll make you existence here a living hell." Claire threatened Jela who ignored it.

"I'm not gonna sack off the win just to get back at you. There's plenty of time for that later Trust me." Jela lied with a fake reassuring tone. "Now get ready. 1. 2. 3. Jump!"

Claire dived off the platform and did touch Jela's arms but slipped down them and into the pool of jellyfish below. Claire's screams of pain from the jellyfish stings rang out and sacred the awaiting Ria who held a flinching Conor. Jela meanwhile chuckled to herself as she watched the events unfold.

"You're." Claire screamed as she got stung again. "Dead Jela." Claire screamed again as she got out of the jellyfish pool with the aid of Anton. With the jellyfish's stingers firmly attached to her she removed her blindfold and began heading to the medical office.

"This is what you get for picking on people." Anton chastised her as she walked off screeching in pain. "And what was that Jela. You had her right there."

"She slipped between my hands I couldn't get a good grip. Sorry Anton, please don't be mad at me." Jela insincerely said with a complimentary finger on the lips and 'retreating' face turn. Anton sighed as he nodded at her and she smiled back.

* * *

 **~Anton Confessional~**

"I know she didn't mean it, but I couldn't stay mad at her. You don't see too many gorgeous honeys when you're in the slammer, you know."

* * *

Conor was next on the trapeze as he swung back and forth watching a frightened Ria cling to the wooden platform post. "Come on Ria. I need you to focus on the challenge." Conor pleaded.

"Believe me when I say I'm deadly focused on the challenge. Emphasis on deadly." Ria replied as she tightened her hold on the post.

"Remember, what I told you earlier. You've got to throw yourself into every move you make. It's the only way you'll do things properly." Conor reminded her.

"Yeah but karate doesn't involve being stung by jellyfish." Ria cried.

"This won't either as long as you trust me and listen to what I tell you. Don't you trust me?" Conor asked her as he continued to swing waiting for his partner. Ria contemplated his words and began to slowly release herself and edge to the platform. Despite, her fears she stood on the edge with a nervous vigour.

"OK. Let's get this over with please." Ria begged.

"That's it. Now jump to me in 3. 2. 1. Go!" Conor instructed. Ria eventually screamed as she jumped off the platform but breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Conor grab snatch her out of the air and lead her onto the next platform over. They both climbed down from their respective areas and met on the ground below.

"I told you you could do it. You just need to believe in yourself a bit more." Conor praised as she ran towards him and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Ria said, happy to be unharmed, catching Conor off-guard who simply coughed awkwardly at the affectionate display.

* * *

 **~Conor Confessional~**

"I'm glad Ria trusted me enough to jump. When she believes in herself, she always manages to surprise me somehow." Conor smiled, unaware at how goofy it turned for a second.

* * *

Back with Claire, she finally made it to the medical tent to join the rest of the injured campers. "Ow. Damn jellyfish." When she entered Chef was treating a concussed Dianne.

"Ugh, oh hey Claire. What'd I miss?" Dianne asked.

"Nothing save for Jela letting me fall into a pool of jellyfish." Claire angrily answered.

"What?" Dianne muttered confused.

"Doesn't matter. It doesn't concern you. How's the head?" Claire inquired.

"Should be better after a bit of rest. Could've been worse." Dianne played it off.

"Cool, cause I could you Nurse Ratchet to look at my friend here." Claire pointed to the friend resting on her head as she fell backwards onto a treatment table.

"What'd you call me girly?" Chef asked her intimidatingly.

"You know what I said. Just please help me out here." Claire said before passing out on the table.

"No good spoiled kids. Cheap-ass low rent job, making me do all the work." Chef mumbled to himself.

At the same time, Griff and Kali both stirred from their own unconscious spells. They both caught sight of each other from across the room. Kali adjusted herself as she sat up and stretched her aching body. "You OK Griff?"

"Yeah, I think so." Griff said as he cracked various parts of his own aching body.

"Good." Kali threw one of her pillows at him. "What the heck were you doing flying at me like that?" Kali said, her temper rising.

"Hey man, it wasn't on purpose, alright!" Griff defended himself. "I stepped on a landmine and it sent me flying towards you." Griff dodged another pillow that was sent towards him. "Would you stop that?"

"It's the least I can give back to you for injuring me." Kali fired back at him.

"Oh, calm down. It was an accident and you'll probably be out of here in no time." Griff played it down which received a mattress thrown at him by Kali. She walked over to him with a smile on her face as she took it off him.

"Now we're cool." Kali said as she grabbed a pillow and whacked him with it. She laughed heartily, and Griff shook his head jokingly before rubbing his sore neck.

* * *

 **~Kali Confessional~**

"I wasn't really mad at him. I knew it was an accident but it's fun to lead people on and think otherwise for a bit. You can get some incredible reactions." Kali chuckled. "Gauging people's response is key to becoming a better actor after all." Kali raises her arm like Hamlet with Yorick's skull.

 **~Griff Confessional~**

"Fair enough. She had me tricked for a while there. She's good." Griff tapis his chin in thought. "Do you think she could play an anthropomorphic ferret queen who battles the undead for control of the surface world?" Griff pulls out his notepad again and scrawls some points down.

* * *

On location for the last challenge, Chris faced the remaining contestants. "Wow, there's quite a few of you missing. Cool." Chris remarked. "Well those who have survived are in luck as this is your final challenge of the day. Step forward, those who have yet to compete."

Jeffrey and Anton stepped forward for the Gophers while Rose and Joey did the same for the Bass. Rose and Jeffrey appeared indifferent while Joey seemed pleased, contrasting with Anton who suspiciously eyed Jeffrey. "You 4 will compete in the blind toboggan race. This challenge will have you both sliding down this cliff with the driver in front and the navigator behind. Oh and the driver will be blindfolded." Joey gasped in fear as she looked upon the hill they'd be hurdling down. "First team to cross the finish line wins and the losers will send someone home."

"Try not to screw this up like some of these other losers have." Nick shouted at the girls from the audience, who looked away unimpressed along with the other campers.

* * *

At the top of the hill, the participants saw Chef applying oil to their toboggans. "Just lubing them up. Get a little more speed going. Hehe." Chef ominously warned them. Joey started freaking out but Rose put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey relax Skittles." Rose calmly said.

"Does my hair really look like Skittles?" Joey said, referring to her adventurous hair colour.

"Not important. What is important is that you calm down? Nobody likes a panicky back-seat driver. Trust me." Rose explained.

"You mean you'll drive for us?" Joey asked looking more chipper.

"Hell yeah. I ain't turning down a chance to race. We to prove we're better than the guys right." Rose remarked to Joey's delight. They high-fived ready to race.

"You're stronger so you'll have less issues steering the toboggan. I'll navigate." Jeffrey explained.

"Sure. Blindfold me and then you'll do some heinous act when I can't see. I'm not falling for it." Anton fired back.

"I think you're paranoid." Jeffrey defended himself. "Even if I did, what could I possibly do when we're racing at huge speed down a mountain side." Anton tried to come up with something but found himself speechless. "That's what I thought. Now put this on." Jeffrey held up Anton's blindfold.

* * *

Both teams were ready on the cliff as Chris joined Chef. "Campers at the ready. On your marks. Get set. Go!" Chris shouted through his megaphone as he and Chef pushed both toboggans down the hill. Both began rapidly building momentum as they slid down the hill. Soon, rocks and trees began rapidly appearing in their way.

"Right." Anton dodged a tree per Jeffrey's orders. "Right again." Another tree missed. "Now left." They avoided a rock, but that rock soon was no longer there as a blast rang out.

"What the?" Jeffrey blurted out.

"Right." Rose followed Joey's instructions. "Left." Rose did so avoiding a tree, but Joey's face dropped as she saw the blast radius ahead of her. "There's explosives here too."

Chris stood at the peak with a pump switch in hand. "We had a few explosives left over from the climbing challenge and I just hate to waste." Chris said to the camera as he pushed the stich again.

"More TNT. This is nuts." Anton shouted out.

"Stay focused on steering. I'll avoid them as best as I can. Left." Jeffrey informed him as they avoided another blast.

"Can you see where the bombs are?" Rose asked.

"Just about. Keep going, we're catching up to the guys. Right." Joey told her, and Rose complied. They avoided a tree with an explosive themselves.

Jeffrey turned back to see the girls closing the gap. "They're getting closer. Left and lean forward a bit more." Anton did so, and they matched the speed of the approaching Bass team.

"They're getting faster. Lean more." Joey yelled to Rose who nodded and leaned forward. Jeffrey saw them getting faster again and grimaced before turning back to Anton and seeing an approaching explosive.

"Perfect." He whispered to himself. "Right." He shouted to Anton who did so, leading Jeffrey to grab the visible explosive and chuck it to a tree the girls were approaching. "Left." Jeffrey shouted as they avoided another bomb. That same action from Chris set off the bomb Jeffrey had thrown blowing up in the tree and sent a huge branch hurdling down in front of the girls.

"Tree." Joey shouted with no time to react as the girls collided into the tree branch and sent them spiralling off the toboggan. They landed with the toboggan as they tumbled down the hill. Jeffrey and Anton crossed the finish line as the beaten girls finally stopped in their tracks, bruised and sore.

"The winners. The Screaming Gophers." The remaining team members celebrated upon Chris's announcement through the megaphone.

"You did terrific guys." Gabriel applauded them.

"Yeah Prof. You and Anton nailed it." Kevin added.

"I'll admit. I had my doubts, but we worked well, and you played fair. Nicely done man." Anton thanked Jeffrey and fist-bumped him. Jeffrey returned it with a sneaky smirk on his face.

"What was that absolute drivel, you useless morons?" Nick shouted at the fallen Rose and Joey.

"Hey jerk. Some giant branch came out of nowhere and fell in our path. It had nothing to do with us." Rose fired back as she got up grunting in pain.

"You would have avoided it if you weren't lagging behind as usual. You two bimbos cost us another win." Nick said seething with rage. That rage was soon dwarfed by Joey who began growling at Nick.

"Did you call us bimbos?!" Joey screamed at Nick as she tried to dive for him but got held back by Deon and Conor. She began flailing for him as he looked on unfazed. "Let me at him. I'll kick his butt for that derogatory bull."

"How primitive. I can't wait to see who goes home tonight." Nick said to her ominously as he walked away. She calmed down as she glared at his leaving figure.

"Neither can I." Joey said as other Bass teammates nodded to her.

* * *

At the campfire ceremony, Chris returned with his usual marshmallows in front of the losing Bass. The injured had returned as Griff had bandages wrapped around his head, Rose's arm was bandaged, and Joey had a plaster on her face. Tristan was still the worse however as the poor engineer was wheelchair bound and delirious.

"Welcome back to the elimination ceremony Bass. I have 9 marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The campfire who does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately walk to the Dock of Shame, to catch the Boat of Losers and be sent home. That means you're out of the race. And you can't come back. Ever!" Chris recited his warning speech. He picked up the first sweet treat. "The first marshmallow goes to… Conor." The martial artist caught his safety symbol.

"Farah." She fist-pumped and caught her marshmallow.

"Mayra." The cowgirl caught the marshmallow in her hat.

"Ria." She beamed as she caught her treat and waved to a smiling Conor.

"Tristan." The treat landed in his wheelchair as he gargled out a thank you.

"Deon." The fashionista smiled as he caught it.

"Rose." The girl groaned as she moved her bandaged arm to catch the marshmallow.

"Griff." The concussed film-buff swiped to catch his treat but fell to the ground missing it.

Nick smiled confidently, baring his teeth at the glaring Joey. "Campers, this is the final marshmallow of the evening. The person who doesn't get this last tasty treat, is heading home. The last marshmallow goes to…"

The two continued to exchange looks as the everyone else looked on eager to see what happens. Nick made a swiping motion across his neck as the suspense built. Joey turned away and looked at Chris as he held the final marshmallow. She held her palm out ready as did Nick.

"Joey." The fluffy treat landed in her hand to Nick's complete shock.

"What, are you all insane?! She blew the challenge for us! I actually won like I normally do!" Nick berated them as Joey went up to join them.

"Time for you to head home Nick." Chris informed him to everyone's delight.

"This is unacceptable. I was your strongest player. I have more medals and trophies than all of you losers combined. I'll get you all back for this." Nick warned them angrily as he gets dragged away by Chef.

"Worst of luck with that you jerk." Farah shouted to him.

"Come back when you learn some respect loser." Rose mocked.

"If I ever see you insult my people again, I won't be so merciful next time." Joey shouted to him as he left. They all turned and laughed together, getting rid of an annoying nuisance on their team.

* * *

"Well that was a satisfying elimination and what a day of pain for our campers. What gruelling challenge will we put them through next? Who will be the next camper to leave the island? Could you get anyone better to do this gig? Find out the answer to the first two questions on the next episode of Total! Drama! Island!" Chris closed the show tremendously as the Bass campers cheered on their way back to camp.

* * *

 **Thanks for your input in the previous chapter. I will be continuing writing this story as per your request but I have to let you know something first. I will not be writing anymore of this until after my last deadline for the semester is done. For context, that means I'll be aiming for the next chapter to be out between Christmas and New Years. I got this out now so it's no longer a distraction plaguing my mind and I can entirely focus upon my film course.**

 **As per usual please leave your reviews done below, feel free to critique as usual and PM if you want to discuss anything. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	5. Phobia Factor

"Last time, on Total Drama Island." Chris recaps.

"The teams were given 5 challenges that tested their trust in their teammates."

 _Clips of Farah and Nick groaning at being forced to work together and of Velma pushing Zveif down the cabin stairs._

"The rock-climbing challenge proved to be the fall of Dianne and Farah showed how she crushed her competition."

 _Highlights of both girls scaling of the cliff and falls from the rock climbing are shown with Dianne being wheeled away on a gurney._

"Tristan got to try the bad end of a blowfish, courtesy of resident cowgirl Mayra."

 _Mayra's blowfish deflating is shown along with Tristan falling off the chair paralyzed after eating her sashimi._

"Griff trusted his own self-destructive instincts over Deon's and took out Kali in the process."

 _Clips of Deon and Griff arguing is followed by Griff stepping on a landmine and flying into Kali, with them in the infirmary after._

"Conor finally started warming to Ria, tying it up for the teams with help from Jela sabotaging Claire for pranking her in her sleep."

 _Ria's blushing at Conor helping her with her kata is shown as well as Conor's awkward cough when she hugs her for catching her on the trapeze. Claire being stung by jellyfish by an 'apologetic' Jela is also aired._

"At the tiebreaker, Anton and Jeffrey won it for the Gophers much to Nick's fury and Rose and Joey's pain."

 _The clips of Jeffrey throwing dynamite towards Rose and Joey's toboggan and exploding the tree airs. The girls landing in front of the Bass and Nick's outburst at them is shown too._

"In the end, Nick's temper rubbed everyone up the wrong way, sending him home to the girls delight."

 _Nick's elimination and being dragged off by Chef to the enjoying audience of Bass campers is aired._

"How will our injured and incensed campers fair at the most dramatic bonfire ceremony yet? Find out right here on TOTAL! DRAMA! ISLAND!" Chris yells out with his usual arm and volume raising.

* * *

 _Theme song and opening cinematic plays_

* * *

It was night time. The campers were gathered in the Mess Hall at their respective team tables. They were all trying to digest the slop Chef had made for them. At the Bass table, Tristan was eying the food and did the best he could to hold in the contents of stomach.

* * *

 **~Tristan Confessional~**

"Chef's food has never been good in any sense of the word, but it looks even worse than it normally does. I think that blowfish is messing with all of my senses." Tristan clutches his stomach as it growls in pain. "Excuse me!" Tristan quickly leaned over the toilet and vomited the contents in the bowl.

* * *

Pushing away his food, he leans on the dining table. He feels an elbow in his side. Rose looks at him concerned. "Hey, still not feeling well?" she enquires.

"That's putting it mildly. My insides feel like a Diesel Engine with Gas in it." Tristan groaned.

"Well at least aim it away from me if you're gonna blow chunks." Rose joked gaining a chuckle from Tristan who was interrupted by more writhing pain.

Mayra looked at his agony from across the table. "I'm really sorry I made ya end up like this partner. I feel mighty awful." She apologised.

Tristan got up and held his hand out. "Don't be." He gestured her to shake it which she did with aplomb. "I don't think I'd have done any better if it were me. I just hope I'm fit enough for the next challenge."

"We all do. Though he was pain in the ass, Nick was still a strong player. We'll need all the help we can get to keep up with the Gophers." Rose acknowledged.

"We're better of without him. All he did was insult us and brag about how amazing he is." Farah said scornfully.

"If he was still here, I'd wring his scrawny neck." Joey aggressively stated. She took some deep breaths and saw the worried faces of the rest of her team members, save Farah, who nodded in agreement. "Too much?"

"Ya think?" Mayra sarcastically added.

* * *

 **~Rose Confessional~**

"Don't get me wrong, I'm as happy as anyone that fruitcake Nick is gone. If anything, it at least saves me from being the witness to a murder." Rose said in jest.

 **~Joey Confessional~**

"I'll admit I have a few anger issues. I can't help but let loose when someone insults me or what I stand for. I'm trying to work through it though, so I can do more damage with my words than my fists." Joey pulls out a handmade doll. "Ria made me this, so I can squeeze it whenever I feel rage. It's already working wonders." Joey squeezes it hard enough for the head to fly into the outhouse ceiling.

* * *

At the Gophers table, things were a bit more jubilant, despite the disgusting food. They were happily chatting amongst each other for the time being. That was until the door was kicked open by a furious Jela. She was caked in white make-up and adorned with a rainbow wig. As people tried to stifle their laughs at her plight, she turned her fury to one well-known prankster.

"You *bleep*." She screamed at Claire. "I'm gonna destroy you." She lunged for Claire before being held back by Anton and Kevin, significantly more successfully by the former.

Staying in her seat, Claire turned to her target and slapped her knee in delight. "Haha. I knew that would be good. You look ridiculous." This only incensed Jela further who tried harder to claw at Claire before Kali came to help the restraining effort.

"Would you relax? You're getting way out of line." Anton said trying to calm her down.

"She deserves this." Jela bit back.

"Did she deserve to be dropped into a pool of jellyfish?" Anton asked.

"Yes!" She fought desperately soon breaking out of his grip and rushing for Claire, who dodged her oncoming attack. Claire tried to grapple her into a headlock, but it transitioned into a flurry of slaps, scratches and hair pulling by both girls.

"Ladies please," Gabriel implored them both "we can resolve these issues through harmless debate and the greatest weapon in the world. The English Language." Gabriel looked proud of his speech before being accidentally kicked in the gut by one of the girls.

* * *

 **~Gabriel Confessional~**

Gabriel leans a series of picture cards against the wall. "As demonstrated by this graph here," Gabriel pulls out an extendable pointer "I'm currently losing my stance as an influential member of this party. Yet the more I try to help my team to regain my stance, they seem to ignore me. Maybe my speeches are lacking in quotable… er… quotes."

* * *

Eventually the two girls were restrained by a submission by Conor on Claire and a lassoing by Mayra on Jela.

"Would you both knock it off? You've scared the jeebus outta Joey." She points to the purple-haired protester, who was curled up into a shivering ball on her seat. Ria comforted the frightened girl before she eventually came out of her scared stupor.

"Oh sorry about that. Please don't hurt me Jela but you looked like a clown and I'm terrified of… clowns." She shivers as she watches Deon take a make-up wipe to Jela who begins furiously scrubbing her face after being released.

"Oh girl, don't you worry. Clowns are nasty freaks that should be imprisoned for crimes against fashion. Still, I suppose it's better than having a disfigured face. Now that scares me the most. No offense, Tristan." Tristan's face dropped and he put a hand over his eyepatch.

"Really? That's your worst fear. You really are vain." Claire commented dusting herself off from Conor's submission.

"Hey, my looks are my life and career. If they're gone then so am I. Besides, I'm sure your biggest fear is stupid. So, spill it." Deon defended himself.

"I'll spill it if Little Miss Succubus heard does." Claire offered.

"In your dreams." Jela bit back.

"Hey, come on. Can't you both do it for the good of the team? I'll spill mine if you reveal yours." The girls continued glaring at each other but then looked at a smiling Anton. "It'll make you feel better, knowing each other's flaws."

"Fine." Both girls said simultaneously relenting.

* * *

 **~Gabriel Confessional~**

"How in the hell can he do that so easily? I must learn his methods." Gabriel said in disbelief.

 **~Anton Confessional~**

"This place is much better when everyone gets along. Getting everyone to reveal their phobias was like the group therapy sessions back in prison." He breaths a calming sigh. "A quiet moment of solace with no separation of cliques or gang warfare. Jela and Claire revealing they're scared of animal corpses and ghosts respectively was a wonderful breakthrough."

* * *

"Well I'm scared of needles. Thank goodness, I wasn't put on death row." Anton laughed at his morbid joke to the uncomfortable chuckles of some campers.

"I'm scared of dogs. Bad experiences." Velma said.

"I'd be terrified of being stuck in a room with no way out. The loneliness." Griff shudders.

"Being on fire. Just awful." Zveif said.

"Scorpions. The one animal that has everything awful in nature." Farah explained.

"They remind me of spiders. Could never get over those creepy and hairy eight legs." Conor added.

"I'm with you there. Spiders are so freaky." Ria agreed.

"Being alone at night. I'd've been hollering for help if it were just me on the camping challenge." Mayra said

"Snakes. With those tongues and, and scales and…" Kali couldn't keep going.

"This is going to sound awful but homeless people. They always look like they're ready to attack you at any minute. I'd get houses for everyone when I get into office just so I could stop seeing them." Gabriel confessed to some weird looks.

"It's not the nicest reason to solve it but at least you'd do something about it." Dianne responded optimistically. "As for me, walking over lava on a tightrope. Specific, I know but it could happen. Imagine falling into that. Bye, bye Dianne." She joked but with recoiling laughter.

"Public speaking. I've been trying to work on it by coming on the show but talking in front of a huge crowd of people." Kevin looked down shamefully. "Normally, I pee myself whenever I try and embarrass myself." That got a few restrained chuckles from some campers before Dianne stared at them to stop the teasing.

"It's fine. Stage frights normal. Nothing to be ashamed of." Dianne said empathetically. Kevin looked at her and nodded while trying to hide an embarrassed blush. He turned to Jeffrey.

"So, what's your biggest fear, Prof?" Kevin asked to Jeffrey's discomfort. Jeffrey looked around at all the waiting faces who smirked at his reluctance.

* * *

 **~Jeffrey Confessional~**

"I hate no win situations. Reveal it and your weakness can be used against you. Don't reveal it and potentially alienate allies because you won't open up to them." Jeffrey in his rage, banged his fist against the outhouse wall. "I'm not far enough in the game yet to go for Option A so…"

* * *

He took a deep sigh and stared at the floor and half-heartedly said "Drowning."

"That's not so bad. Most people are afraid of that." Dianne consoled, putting her uninjured arm on his shoulder.

"Yeah but still, I don't like admitting it." Jeffrey grumpily confessed. "Who's left to say their fears anyway?"

"Just me and Tristan. Personally, thunderstorms. All that rain is awful to ride my baby in and the chances of being shocked while riding her down the road are frightening. I'm never taking my bike out in those things." Rose explained.

"Makes sense. Just you now Tristan. Fess up dude." Griff directed.

"I'm not really that comfortable talking about it." Tristan rubbed his arm.

"I was too but I got roped into admitting it. You can do it too if I did." Jeffrey coaxed. Tristan gulped as everyone awaited his admission. He rubbed his face over his eyepatch and mumbled something. "Say that again. We couldn't hear you."

"Airplanes." Tristan seemingly forced out. He forced out a laugh. "Sounds silly for an engineer I know but them crashing on me is scarier than anything I can think of."

"Fair enough. Makes sense. Well I'm off to bed." Anton announced. A couple of Bass members looked at Tristan sceptically before they all went to their cabins.

* * *

The next morning, they were back in the Mess Hall having their breakfast before Chris entered the room whistled for their attention. "Campers, your next challenge is a little game I like to call, Phobia Factor." Many of the campers faces dropped to worried looks. "Prepare to face your worst fears!" Chris proclaimed.

"Worse than this." Tristan held up a piece of broccoli that was entirely purple.

"Now for our first victim. Gabriel." His eyes bulged in shock. "Meet me down by arts and crafts centre. We have some lovely homeless there waiting for you." Gabriel screamed and put his hands to his face.

"How did they know that was your worse fear?" Dianne questioned.

"Because we're idiots. We said them all last night." Claire groaned.

"You mean they were recording us? I didn't see any cameras in there." Dianne said worried.

"It's reality TV. They're always recording us. They must have some hidden ones set up. This is why I stick to theatre." Kali explained annoyed at that prospect.

"Griff, you, me. Me locking you in the boathouse with no way out for a couple hours." Griff face became devoid of colour.. "Chef Hatchet, your delivery has arrived for Jela." Chef Hatchet burst through the kitchen doors with a dining cart covered by a white sheet. Jela's hands were trembling as she went to remove the sheet. It revealed a bunch of animal skeletons dressed in rotting meat and maggots. Jela shrieked and ran out the door.

* * *

We move to the campgrounds with Kali is paralysed with fear as Chef dresses a six-foot snake over Kali for her to hold and then another. She tries her best to keep still as Chris starts the timer for her. The snakes slither around her as she tries her best not to scream. Eventually, they both come to face her directly. She quivers in fear before the snakes both seemingly smile at her, lessening her fright. Chris stops the timer and the Gophers cheer.

"And Kali the snake charmer puts the Gophers ahead." She begins to pet the snakes after they're taken off her.

* * *

Conor and Ria are standing on stumps at the bonfire pit. Chris reveals some spiders in a cage for them. Ria grabs Conor's hand as they both look terrified at the arachnids. They look at each other fearfully as they're placed over their bodies and begin crawling over them.

* * *

 **~Conor Confessional~**

"You know how I said fear is all in the mind. I take it back." Conor gave a thousand-yard stare at the camera.

* * *

Claire was next as she walked into the cabin. Suddenly, the room went black as the windows and doors were blocked of sunlight. She began to shake as a blue luminescent figure appeared behind her. She heard a sinister laugh and turned to see a ghoulish figure behind her. She screamed and threw a devastating right hook as the figure. It fell to the floor and she inspected the figure to see it was Chef in a glow-in-the-dark robe.

Chris commentated over the action as Claire looked pleased with herself. "And that's another point for the Gophers. They're currently 2-0 up."

* * *

Farah enters the bathroom and shuts the bathroom door. Just as she's ready to undo her belt, she notices the toilet lid shaking. She takes her belt off and wraps it around the toilet lid and sees a scorpion snap its pincers at her upon lifting it up. She recoiled and smacked it with her belt multiple times. As she stopped, she saw the scorpion twitch and knocked it into the toilet before flushing it away.

"Unconventional but effective. The Bass get their first points on the board." Chris described.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chef was chasing Zveif out of the kitchen as he held a can of deodorant and put it near a zippo lighter. As soon as Chef fired a warning spray, Zveif bolted from scene, dropping deserts as he ran. "Come here boy. Time to light you up." Chef ominously yelled chasing the sugar addict.

* * *

At the amphitheatre, Chris had gathered all the campers not busy with challenges. "Introducing our big speaker for today. We have Kevin." He posed ready to welcome him on but got no response. "Interns. Bring him on stage." Two unremarkable interns had each of his arms and dragged him on stage. "Kevin, everybody." Chris repeated with lesser enthusiasm.

Kevin made his way onto the podium to some encouraging cheers from the Gophers. However, it did little to offset the fear he displayed. He stared at them all, and opened his mouth before fainting backwards off the podium.

"Oof. That wasn't pretty." Jeffrey commented as Dianne ran to treat him.

"Well, I'm not setting all of this back up again. Kevin fails the challenge." Chris then covers his nose as an unpleasant smell permeates the air. "Someone get him some clean underwear too."

* * *

Mayra is alone in a dark cave. She is barely visible on camera. "It's not exactly like night. This'll be easy." She assured herself uneasily.

"Mayra has to stay 4 hours in this cave without leaving or creating a light source to complete her challenge." Chris' voiceover explained.

Mayra walked around the cave, trying to feel around for a place to sit. She eventually found somewhere and started nervously fiddling around with her hat. "I got this. I can do this. 4 hours is nothin'." She kept telling herself. She soon saw some glowing eyes in front of her and immediately grabbed her hat and swatted it away with her flailing arm.

* * *

At the boathouse, Griff slowly walked into the small shack. Chris locked the door behind and faced the camera. "He's got to spend 2 hours in there. If he faints or begs for help, he's failed."

In the boathouse, Griff looked at all the threatening items around the structure. Fish skulls, harpoons, anchors and nets. Not to mention barrels of bait and dangerous items. "This sucks." Griff pointed out.

* * *

The remaining campers move to the dock where they watch an intern tie some leg bindings around Jeffrey. Those bindings were attached to a rock on the boat. "I swear that this can be classified as attempted murder." Jeffrey commented.

"You can thank our lawyers for getting us the OK to do this." Chris replied snarkily. "Don't worry this'll be over quickly. Just last a minute underwater. The rock will keep you there so there's no cheating. Just pull on the rope if you want to be pulled out early. The interns will be ready to pull you out whenever you're ready."

"You had better pull me out immediately." Jeffrey warned the nervous interns around his legs.

"You can do it Jeffrey." Dianne yelled to him as the boat began sailing away to the deeper waters.

"While our interns monitor Jeffrey's challenge, you're up Dianne." She blinked confused at Chris' announcement.

* * *

Dianne eventually saw herself atop the lofty heights of a platform, looking down at a bubbling thick red liquid that was causing the contestants around it to sweat profusely. She then looked up and saw a tightrope leading to another platform.

"How do you even manage to get lava onto an island with no volcano?" Dianne cried.

"It's not technically lava but it might as well be. This is Chef's Incinerator Curry. The ingredients are said to be illegal in at least 20 different 1st world countries." Chris said through his megaphone.

* * *

 **~Chef Confessional~**

"The CFIA keep sending me letters saying that 'this food isn't fit for human consumption' or 'those peppers are used for torture purposes only'." Chef derided. "No appreciation for making new cuisine. Ingrates!"

* * *

"Just make it across to the other side to earn a point for your team."

"This is seriously not cool." Dianne shouted. She soon took a deep breath and repeated "You can do this." to herself as she began to carefully walk across the tightrope. She began to progress bit by bit.

"Keep going Dianne. You're doing great." Kali encouraged.

"Thank y-y-y-aaahhh!" Dianne after turning to Kali, lost her balance and was holding onto the rope by her feet. Everyone watching winced as she dangled from the thin rope barely holding her up. Looking at the 'lava' below her she immediately began lifting her upper body to try and get back on the rope. Willing herself on, she manages to get a tight grip on it and shimmy along it further.

Upon reaching the last platform, she climbs onto it and gets on her knees to pray. "Oh, thank God. Thank you."

"Another point for the Gophers." Chris announced. The scores were 3-1 as the Gophers surrounded Dianne after she climbed down.

* * *

We move back to the cabins, where Deon is sat anxiously with an intern ready with his make-up bag. She shows Deon a picture of how he plans to him and he immediately bolts from the room, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

* * *

Next up, we have Anton who is lying down, strapped onto a gurney. He watches as Chris, wearing a surgical mask and gloves, flicking the end of an injection needle. Anton doesn't blink once as he watches Chris inject the needle of random liquid into his arm. Anton doesn't flinch as the scoreboard reads 4-1 after the injection happens. Upon being unstrapped from the gurney, Chris leaves as Kali tries to shake Anton up. He tips the gurney, falling off, showing his fainted self lying on the grass.

* * *

We move to Velma who is on the stage as interns walk a small pug puppy onto the stage. Velma immediately goes to hide behind the podium as it comes into her view.

"Oh, come on Velma, it's the cutest little thing you'll ever see. It's harmless." Anton said frustrated at her reaction.

"I want 10." Dianne added to which many of the watching Gophers nodded.

Velma retaliated "Sure it may look cute, but then it'll bare its wolverine instincts and destroy all your research before clawing at your face." She then saw the dog sniff her leg and then smile at her with its tongue out. Velma panicked and punted the dog off the stage. Farah immediately ran after it and caught the little guy in her hands. It whimpered in her mitts as everyone began to look furiously at Velma. She looked down ashamed.

* * *

Back to sea and the underwater camera shows Jeffrey looking at a waterproof watch and saw that his minute was up. He began tugging on the rope. However, back on the boat, neither of the interns were paying attention to the jerking movements he made. Scanning around for a way out, Jeffrey began pulling at the anklet chaining him down. Beginning to panic, he spotted a nearby shark swimming near him. Scratching at his arm, he drew blood and pushed it towards the shark. Smelling the prey, the shark's eyes turned white as he followed the trail to Jeffrey's direction. As it raced towards him, Jeffrey began swimming upwards with all his available energy, doing just enough for the shark to cut the rope as it swam by with its sharp teeth. Jeffrey swam for his life to the surface.

The interns noticed the bubbling sounds by the side of the boat and saw Jeffrey hanging over the port side of the boat, coughing up seawater. They help him onto the boat and look guilty at each other. Jeffrey looked up at both interns with pure rage in his eyes. "So, you think it's OK to slack off while I'm drowning to death with a shark circling nearby?" Jeffrey ominously asked through gritted teeth. "Well, let's just see how you like it." Jeffrey picks up the anchor from the boat and throws it at the interns who go over the side of the boat.

* * *

Back at the bonfire pit, Gabriel viewed from atop the slight cliff overlooking it the homeless people napping around the tree stump. "Gabriel. You're up next. You just gotta give one of those friendly looking members of society a hug."

"But what if they've contracted something venereal? Or attempt to do awful things to me in the back alley? Or ask me FOR CHANGE?!" Gabriel said panic-stricken. Anton slapped him out of his mania and grabbed his shoulders.

"Gabriel, chill. They're no different from you. But you have a better opportunity than them. An opportunity to make a difference. An opportunity to bring even the smallest amount of meaning into their difficult lives. Through showing them compassion, you can learn so much from these troubled souls. Don't let such a great chance to learn a new side of things go to waste." Anton said, motivating the aspiring politician to make his way to the hobos.

* * *

 **~Gabriel Confessional~**

"He's right again. Is this what the musings of someone with life experience? I can't possibly compete with him. But I can learn from him. I am formally declaring from this point on, that Anton will be my running mate for the rest of the competition."

* * *

Gabriel ran up to the first homeless person and gave him a hug, waking the guy up from his nap. Upon seeing the teen clutching his leg, he gets up and tries to shake him off to no avail.

"Well that's another point on the board for the Gophers. Rose you're up next. Right after we watch hobos beat up Gabriel." Chris laughed as Gabriel was finally forced off the hobo's leg and hit the ground. He was soon surrounded by them all who kicked him for interrupting their 'beauty sleep'.

* * *

While they headed to the woods for Rose's challenge, they watched Zveif run by them as Chef was still chasing him with his makeshift flamethrower. He was keeping pace with him but Zveif was running low on blood sugar and raced into the Gophers cabin. He jumped out the window with a stash full of sweets and continued running from Chef.

* * *

 **~Zveif Confessional~**

"I'm. Not. Built. For this." Zveif panted and squirted an energy drink into his mouth.

* * *

"Seeing Zveif's sticky candy face reminds me of something." Chris said earily. He pulls out a walkie talkie and speaks into it. "Bring 'em in boys."

The campers watched as a helicopter airlifting a big box flew its way over the campgrounds. Dropping the box, the door opened by itself revealing a tiny but colourful car with 2 painted faces peaking out of the windows. They began laughing kookily as they drove towards the campers. Joey screamed and ran into the woods.

* * *

Returning to the cave, Mayra was breathing heavily as she threw her hat at a flying bat, joining the significant pile that had been knocked unconscious onto the rocky floor.

* * *

 **~Mayra Confessional~**

"This is why I hate being alone at night. Woods have every critter from here ta Cuba gunnin for ya."

* * *

As she put her hat back on and readjusted it, she heard a beeping noise. Looking at her watch it showed her time was up. "Ugh. Finally." The scoreboard popped on screen showing 5-2. Upon leaving the cave, she heard the wails of terrified screaming to her right.

"What in tarnation?" She whispered to herself as she watched Joey and Zveif run by her, followed soon by Chef riding atop a clown car with a spray can and a lighter. Mayra just took in the whole scene and commented to the camera "Well, that happened."

* * *

Back with the majority of campers, Rose is greeted with a lovely gift as her motorcycle is stood at a starting line, completely in tact and sleek condition. "Oh baby, it's good to see you again." She runs over and hops on the seat, revving it up once. "Mmmm. Momma has missed you so much." Rose gushes over her reunion with her bike.

* * *

 **~Rose Confessional~**

"Me and Blackbird have been through hell and back together. Seeing her and listening to her purr again," Rose wipes a tear from her eye "It was a beautiful moment. Don't care how stupid I looked."

* * *

"How's it feel to be back with your hog again Rose?" Chris asked eagerly.

"I feel like a part of my soul has come back to me." Rose replied rubbing her ride's glossy finish.

"Good to hear, coz you'll be riding your bike through this." Chris pulled out a remote control and a giant storm cloud appeared. It began showering rain and shooting miniature lightning bolts towards her path. She soon perks up as she falls off the bike. Tristan goes over to help her and she dusts herself off.

"How is that even possible?" Rose questioned.

"I don't know the science behind it, nor care to know but it's pretty cool right." Chris answers.

"Fine, forgetting about the laws of physics for now, doesn't being shocked by lightning seriously injure most people if not kill them?" Tristan grilled.

"Relax. I've been ensured by the nerds I got this from that the shock is not serious enough to cause any permanent damage. It'll hurt though. Now are you going through with this or not."

"You know you don't have to do this right?" Tristan ensured her. "No one will think any less of you."

"Thanks for worry champ but I want to get back on the road again, even if it's like this." Tristan snickered but looked away. "Hey, when I make it through this, maybe we can have our own ride after." Rose offers. Tristan looks back and smiles at her before she puts on her helmet and revs Blackbird ready.

"And go!" Chris waves a flag signalling as such before getting on the controls to the cloud. It hovers above her and pelts her with hard rain and a strong wind. Manoeuvring through the trees, she in turn avoided aimed bolts at her bike with sharp banks and turns. As she came to a ramp, she jumped off dodging a lightning bolt aimed just behind her. It briefly lit up her face behind the helmet visor, showing a determined look of confidence.

* * *

 **~Rose Confessional~**

"Riding in the rain is still sucky but having that incentive to race to the finish line and conquer that fear, possibly get us a cool reward." She puts a leg up and leans on it. "Yeah, that was an awesome moment for me."

* * *

Upon her landing, she drifted towards the line and took her helmet off before clicking her fingers towards the camera.

"Rose nails her challenge. The Bass are on the comeback trail." Chris announced, showing the scoreboard at 5-3. "Time for the next phobia factor contestant, Jela."

* * *

Jela soon faced a diving board into a pool of animal remains. Looking at it from her high perspective, the prospect of landing in that seemed daunting.

* * *

 **~Jela Confessional~**

"You can not tell me that jumping 30 feet into a pile of…" She holds in some puke "Urgh… some of that is worth one point. I'm only doing that if I get the million dollars right up front with a smoking hottie on the side."

* * *

"You can't really expect me to do this. It's unsanitary." Jela complained.

"That's kind of the point of corpses idiot." Claire shouted up to her.

"Just imagine it as a mud bath or something." Kali offered.

"How can I imagine that when it's clearly not a mudbath?" Jela bit back.

"Come Jela, we need this point. We've lost 3 already, we might not be able to afford losing another." Anton pleaded.

"I echo the sentiments of my valuable teammate." Gabriel added to Anton's confusion.

They watched her stand up reluctantly on the platform. She got to the edge but as soon as she peered over again, she retreated to the ladder. "I'm sorry, I can't do it. It's too much." Jela cried. The Gophers all look either peeved or disappointed at her quitting.

"It's still 5-3 then to the Gophers. Before, we go to our final challenge, let's head to the dock to check in on some other campers.

* * *

Once they arrived they saw Jeffrey mooring the boat, soaking wet through and bleeding from his arm.

"Oh, my goodness Jeffrey, what happened to your arm?" Dianne asked concerned, rushing over to look at it.

"It's a long story. To summarise it, my challenge went awry. But I did complete it." Jeffrey informed Chris who seemed unmoved.

"I need my interns to confirm you did." Chris said.

"No problem. One second." Jeffrey hopped on the boat and dragged one of the interns, who he tied to an anchor onto the dock. Slapping him awake Jeffrey asked "You, didn't I complete the challenge." The intern nodded. "Not only that but did you neglect your duties, leaving me underwater for 2 and a half minutes to either drown for real or be eaten by a shark!" Jeffrey's passive aggressiveness was rising to become unabated fury. The intern again nodded.

"Jesus Christ." Anton commented.

"You poor soul. Let me treat those scratch marks. It's the least I can do to make up for that." Dianne said worryingly.

"It's not your fault. Anyway, have we won yet?" Jeffrey asked, sick to death of it all.

"Not quite yet, we're still waiting on the results of some challenges." Chris told him before the sounds of a car horn and screams were heard approaching the docks.

"Make way!" Zveif shouted as he jumped into the water avoiding an irate Chef's flamethrower. Despite getting wet, he celebrated avoiding Chef's anger. "Yeah, can't burn me now Chef, can you?"

"No, no he can't, which means you fail the challenge." Chris pointed out. Zveif's celebrations halted as he let himself sink briefly below the surface.

However, the action wasn't over yet as the clown car came into view, still chasing Joey. It came customised with 2 passengers on its bonnet, Conor and Ria, both of whom were still covered in spiders. The chase stopped as soon as Joey got to the edge of the dock and turned back to see the car brake and stop in front of her. 2 clowns pop out and continue to laugh goofily at Joey. Joey's face was full of fear but then she looked around at her fellow campers and then to the floor. She lifted her head up, balled her fists and walked over to their vicinity.

"You know what? You freaks are nothing more than wannabe stooges in face paint. Do your worst." Joey dared them opening her arms ready for what was to come. She was shocked, literally, as one of them grabbed her hand with a joy buzzer. Recovering from that, she got a cream-filled pie to her face, followed by a strong spray from a flower spritzer. Another one offered her a bouquet of flowers instead. These flowers caused her to sneeze though, prompting them to pull out a huge line of tied up handkerchiefs. They then bowed out from the island, squeezing their red noses for a honking sound before getting back in their tiny vehicle.

Everyone watched what had happened, stunned and confused.

* * *

 **~Joey Confessional~**

Joey's arm kept moving jerkily around her as she grasped for an explanation for what she just went through.

* * *

"Congrats Joey, letting the clowns perform their routine on you gains another point for the Bass. Along with Conor and Ria getting through their spider phobias," The pair looked pleased at each other, with him gently knocking one off her hair "the scores are now tied. With no one left to play for the Gophers, it comes down to Tristan to break the tie."

"But what about-mmmmm." Mayra's enquiry was cut short by Chris putting his hand over her mouth.

"Shush. Very important host talking. Tristan, you must complete your challenge to win it for your team." Chris explained.

Tristan sighed dejectedly. "Fine. Where's the plane?"

"What plane would that be?" Chris said knowingly.

"Don't play dumb, you recorded me saying my worst fear." Tristan shot back.

"You're right. We did record you. That also means we have everything on film including your reactions." Chris emphasised the last word.

"What do you mean?" Tristan asked warily.

"We noticed how you reacted after Deon called you disfigured." Deon grinned sheepishly at being reminded of that. "You seemed to be particularly wary of covering your eyepatch when he mentioned it." Tristan gulped. "So now we know your worst fear. For your challenge Tristan, you must remove your eyepatch for the whole viewing world, so we can see what's underneath? Don't keep us waiting."

Tristan's pupils shrank to a ridiculous degree as he looked around the dock with all eyes on him.

* * *

 **~Tristan Confessional~**

Tristan rubs his eyepatch. "This eyepatch isn't just for show. I'm not afraid to admit that. But it's now a part of me as much as my skin and organs are. I know what's underneath and it's not pretty. I can show it someone I trust but to a bunch of strangers and the entire television world." Tristan folds his arms and contemplates his situation, looking afraid.

* * *

Tristan's hands are shaking as he moves them closer and closer to the patch. He begins sweating as he inches closer and closer. Some campers wait anxiously while Chris looks at his watch. "Come on dude. We've only got 22 minutes of screen time."

"Shut up!" Tristan spat at him as he finally grabbed a hold of the underside of the eyepatch. Shaking even more at potentially removing it, he gasps and releases it, dropping to his knees. "I can't. I'm not ready." Tristan lifelessly said. A couple of the Bass members walked over to comfort Tristan.

"It's fine. We understand." Ria said sympathetically.

"You don't have to force yourself." Rose said lifting his face up to face hers. They both smiled at each other before he turns away.

"This is touching and all but I can't end this episode on a tiebreaker. One of you is going to have to face your fears." Chris ordered the campers.

"What about Griff? He still isn't back yet." Mayra reminded him.

"Why didn't you remind me earlier? Let's go." Chris said rushing towards the boathouse as Mayra facepalmed mumbling to herself.

* * *

Once everyone else arrived at the boathouse, they heard noises from inside. Chris opened the door for everyone to view and they saw Griff, looking a lot worse for wear. He was covered in fish bait and was talking to himself, playing with the fish skulls. His back was turned as he was monologuing to himself.

"Mr Hammerhead. All the evidence points to you as the cannibal behind the death of Carla Duty. Finn Haddock saw you in the basement with the victim while he was trying to steal wine from the cellar. Do you deny it?" Griff venomously yelled as he turned to see everyone else watching him, perplexed and weirded out. Griff coughed and wiped some of the bait off his face. "Oh, hey guys. What's going on?"

"Creepy fish courtroom setting aside, Griff has won Phobia Factor for the Bass." Chris announced, with the scoreboard showing a 7-6 Bass victory. The Bass all cheered in response to the news. "Gophers, I'll see your butts at the elimination ceremony tonight."

* * *

 **~Griff Confessional~**

"I was stuck in that boathouse for what felt like an eternity. I had to adapt to my surroundings and make the best of it. I just wish I had time to get to the twist ending. Let's just say Miss Carla Duty wasn't all that innocent." Griff shared still looking wacky.

* * *

Tristan was walking back into the boys' cabin before a familiar face stopped him. "Hey." He turned to see Rose. She pointed out her motorcycle parked in front of the Bass Cabin. "You still want to go for that ride?"

Tristan nodded as he went inside to grab his helmet. "Let's go." He softly said as he hopped on the back of her bike. She revved the engine before they set off into the night.

* * *

At the elimination ceremony, the Gophers were all sat waiting patiently as Chris arrived with the plate of marshmallows. "Gophers, not enough of you faced your fears today. You couldn't win, despite the numbers advantage. One of you will be leaving tonight. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow tonight, must immediately leave for the Dock of Shame and board the Boat of Losers. That means you're out of the contest. And you can't come back. Ever!" Chris recited his speech. "The first camper to receive a marshmallow is…"

"Anton." The former criminal got up.

"Kali." She happily accepted her safety.

"Claire." The rebel smirked upon mention.

"Gabriel." He sighed in relief.

"Dianne." She beamed at the news.

"Jeffrey." He still looked angry but claimed his prize. He was hugged by Dianne after.

"The rest of you did not complete your challenges. One of you will not being going home tonight. That first person is…"

"Zveif." The sugar addict gladly ran for his marshmallow.

"Also, safe tonight is…"

"Kevin." The boy blinked in surprise before rushing to his prize.

Chris picked up the very last symbol of safety. "Campers, this is final marshmallow of the evening." Jela and Velma look it anxiously, both sweating nervously at the prospect of going home. The tension of the potential elimination permeated the air as they awaited their fate. Velma crossed her fingers, desperately hoping to remain in the game. Jela looked over at her and took a deep breath before staring confidently at the tasty treat. As Chris squeezed the final marshmallow, he announced the last name.

"Jela." The beauty smiled as Chris threw the last treat to her. Velma looked at her and sadly slumped at her elimination. "Unfortunate for you Velma. You might have survived if you didn't kick a cute little dog like a soccer ball." Velma's fingers ran through her hair as she got up and walked past her teammates who watched her drag her feet to the Boat of Losers. One camper though growled at the entire thing.

* * *

 **~Jeffrey Confessional~**

"I nearly drowned today because of incompetent staff and lost because of a blithering idiot on the other team. This is completely unacceptable. I'm done passively observing my opponents. Now is the time for plans to be enacted." Jeffrey began laughing sinisterly in the outhouse to close the show.

* * *

 **A/N: Slightly later than I promised but now I'm happy enough with the chapter. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you don't celebrate Christmas, cool, you do you. As always reviews and feedback are appreciated. Here's hoping for a good 2018.**


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